■■■■■■■Mi 



A HISTORY 
OF RUSSIA 

FROM PETER, fa GREAT 
^o NICHOLAS II 




WtR.vVMORFILL 



A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 



A HISTORY OF 
RUSSIA 

FROM THE BIRTH OF PETER THE GREAT 
TO NICHOLAS II. 



BY 



W. R. MORFILL, M.A. 

PROFESSOR OF RUSSIAN AND OF THE OTHER SLAVONIC LANGUAGES IN 

THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF 

THE ROYAL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY OF BOHEMIA 



5 ; ; ' 

WITH TWELVfe MAPS' AND "pLaNS ' ° 



New York. 

JAMES POTT & CO. 

1902 



PREFACE 

HpHE present little work has been undertaken with the view 
* of furnishing the general reader with a succinct account 
of the chief events of Russian history from the birth of Peter 
the Great to our own times. I have mostly drawn from 
Russian sources, and have freely availed myself of the material 
furnished, not only by the leading historians of the country, 
but also of what is contained in the historical reviews and 
the transactions of Russian learned societies. A great deal 
of valuable matter has been recently published, which has 
been up to the present time only partially utilised in our 
country. This information I have further illustrated by ex- 
tracts from the chief memoirs and diaries which have been 
published. From these many anecdotes have been gleaned 
which will enable us tq understand persons and events more 
accurately than in the dignified pages of the historian. 
Plutarch has fully acknowledged this truth in the intro- 
duction to one of his realistic Lives. Some account has been 
given of the chief Russian authors ; it seems now universally 
acknowledged that we must know something of the literary 
and social development of a nation and not confine ourselves 
to battles and conquests. 

Towards the close of the work attention has been paid to 
two questions which have great interest for English readers at 
the present time : the relations of Finland to Russia and the 
development of the Siberian railway. As some ignorance on 
the former point prevails in England, it seemed desirable to 
give a few facts, elucidating the condition of the country 
before its union with Russia. Some attention has also been 
paid to the Eastern question which, in spite of the devices of 
politicians, is always with us. 

At the risk of appearing to borrow without acknowledg- 



vi PREFACE 

ment, I have thought it undesirable to burden the pages of 
my book with a bristling array of the sources from which I 
have drawn. These minutice deter the ordinary reader for 
whom my book is planned. I am afraid that I have not been 
able to avoid an occasional inconsistency in spelling. So long 
as there is no recognised system of transliteration of Russian 
names we must expect these difficulties. Of course, I have 
my own system and have generally followed it ; but how are 
we to act with Slavonic words which are half domesticated 
among us, and where the Englishman has frequently chosen 
in the most haphazard way a Polish, German or French 
form? The names too often appear congested with un- 
necessary consonants j and I have occasionally felt a pleasure 
in unloading them. When the combination ch is quite 
familiar to us, why do we write fsch, and why has the 
sound of j sometimes been metamorphosed into dsch ? There 
is much work still for the phonetician. 

W. R. MORFILL 
Oxford, Nov. 27, 1901. 



CONTENTS 



PREFACE ...... 

CHAP. 

I. THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 
II. THE reign of peter — continued. 

III. the reign of peter — continued . 

IV. THE REIGNS OF CATHERINE I. AND PETER II. 
V. THE REIGN OF ANNE 

VI. THE REIGN OF ANNE— continued . 
VII, THE REIGNS OF IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 
VIII. THE REIGNS OF PETER III. AND CATHERINE II. 
IX. THE REIGN OF CATHERINE II. — continued 
X. THE REIGN OF PAUL 
XI. THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 
XII. THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. — continued 

XIII. THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 

XIV. THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 



PAGE 
V 



27 

63 
HO 
I20 
139 
153 
190 
202 

255 
276 

342 
358 
424 



Vlll 



CONTENTS 



CHAP. PAGE 

XV. SUMMARY OF THE REIGNS OF ALEXANDER III. AND 

NICHOLAS II., 1881-1899 ..... 457 

XVI. THE SPREAD OF THE RUSSIAN DOMINION IN ASIA . . 467 



GENEALOGICAL TABLES . 



473 
475 



MAPS AND PLANS 



[. MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE INVASIONS OF CHARLES XII. AND 



NAPOLEON 

2. BATTLE OF NARVA, I70O 

3. BATTLE OF POLTAVA, I709 . 

4. BATTLE OF THE RIVER PRUTH, I7II . 

5. BATTLE OF ZORNDORF, 1758 . 

6. BATTLE OF KUNERSDORF, 1759 

7. BATTLE OF CHESME, 1770 

8. SUVOROV'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS, 1 799 

9. BATTLE OF BORODINO, l8l2 . 

10. BATTLE OF MALOY AROSLAVETZ, l8l2 

11. BATTLE OF NAVARINO, 1827 

12. MAP OF THE SIBERIAN RAILWAY . 



frontispiece 

30 

49 

59 

180 

181 

224 

268 

297 

320 

635 
facing page 467 



A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

CHAPTER I 
THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 

"DETER the son of the Tsar Alexis, by his second wife, 
^ Natalia Narishkin, was born at Moscow on nth June 
1672. Among the anecdotes collected by Staehlin, who held 
various appointments in Russia and was well acquainted with 
the country, is one related to him by the Countess Maria 
Rumiantsov, who was grand-daughter of the boyar Artemon 
Matveov, the friend and foreign-minister of Alexis. This 
was a much more important post than it had been in earlier 
reigns, for Alexis was perhaps the first Tsar who had what 
would now be called a foreign policy. After the death of his 
first wife, who was of the family of the Miloslavskis, Alexis 
would not infrequently visit Matveov at the latter's own house, 
thereby somewhat departing from the rigours of court eti- 
quette. Upon one occasion when he had gone to the house 
without attendants (for the patriarchal habits of the period 
permitted of simple fashions) he saw supper ready and ex- 
pressed his desire to share his friend's meal ; provided that 
the good boyar would consent not to make any alteration in 
his arrangements. When the Tsar had seated himself, the 
wife of Matveov made her appearance, followed by her son 
and a young girl. It should be remembered that these were 
the days when the Russian women lived almost exclusively in 
their terems^ as their apartments were called, and were but 
seldom seen by those who were not members of the house- 
hold. Like the Bulgarian women at the present day, who 

A 



2 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1672 

are not yet free from the fetters of Turkish custom, the 
Russians were then still under the influence of Mongolian 
tradition. 

The Tsar regarded the young lady with great attention 
and said to his host : " I thought you had only a son, but 
now I perceive that you have also a daughter. How is it 
that I have never seen her before ? " 

" Your Majesty is right," rejoined Matveov, " it is quite 
true that I have only a son : this girl is the daughter of one 
of my relatives, Cyril Narishkin ; my wife has undertaken to 
bring her up." 

" You do a good work," replied the Tsar. 

When supper was over, the family retired, but the Tsar 
remained in conversation with his minister. 

"That young lady," said the former, " has a gentle appear- 
ance and you ought to think of finding a suitable marriage 
for her." 

To this Matveov replied that he was afraid it would be 
difficult for him to bring it about, for although she was a 
clever and amiable girl she had no dowry. 

" Well, then," said the Tsar, " you must find her a husband 
who does not care about money, but will be content to take 
her for her merits." 

Matveov replied that he did not think the age in which 
they lived likely to produce many suitors of that sort. 

" Well," said the Tsar in reply, " let us see if we cannot 
find one." 

Some days afterwards the Tsar again came to the house 
and after conversing for some time with his minister on foreign 
affairs, asked him if he had found a suitable husband for 
Natalia, as the young lady was called. 

" No, I have not," replied the boyar. " I see many young 
men in my house, but none talk of matrimony." 

" Well," said the Tsar, " I think I know of a suitor who has 
no need of a fortune with his wife," and thereupon declared 
that he wished to marry her himself. And so it came about 
that the mother of Peter the Great was Tsaritsa. She 



1672] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 3 

had been chosen from among many Court beauties, and 
indeed was herself possessed of considerable personal attrac- 
tions, as can be seen by her portrait ; and her son inherited 
his share of her good looks. Indeed, Peter was in every 
way a man of striking appearance, being about six feet seven 
inches in height, and, though slender, of muscular build. 

The Tsar Alexis seems to have been a tender-hearted and 
conscientious man ; he was greatly given to religious obser- 
vances ; and the account of his fasting, furnished by Collins, 
for nine years his physician, is calculated to astonish the 
modern reader. In the controversy which he had with the 
Patriarch Nikon, who was perhaps, after Peter himself, the 
greatest man Russia has ever produced, there was a con- 
siderable probability that the pious Tsar would yield ; and 
the overthrow of Nikon was, in reality, due to the boyars. 
He had arrayed himself against the power of the Tsar in 
spiritual affairs, as Beckett did against Henry II. 

Alexis, ever anxious to be a just and merciful ruler, had 
reserved a particular place in the Kremlin, where petitions to 
him were to be presented. He is recorded to have said to 
some of his officials, who sought to punish a soldier for 
cowardice, that they ought to be merciful, since God had 
not given all men courage alike. Matveov's predecessor, as 
diplomatist and minister, had been the excellent and incor- 
ruptible Ordin Nastchokin, and in him Alexis had a loyal, 
able, and indefatigable adviser. Already progress had begun, 
and Russia was looking to the west. In 1649 had appeared 
the Ulozhenie, a code of laws which, though retrogressive in 
that it made the peasant legally adscriptus glebes, was in 
many ways beneficial ; before a kind of custom had sprung 
up which dated, however, only from the conclusion of the 
previous century. 

Alexis also made efforts to introduce a more disciplined 
system among his soldiers, who then took the field clad in 
the loose garments and displaying the irregular energy of 
barbarian troops. In his efforts to reform his army, he was 
greatly helped by three men ; Gordon, destined afterwards 



4 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1676 

to become the favourite captain of his son Peter; Leslie, 
whose permission to enter the Russian service is still pre- 
served among the archives of Exeter Cathedral, and who 
founded a family still existing in Russia; and the Scot 
Dalziel, afterwards notorious for his cruelty to the Cove- 
nanters, by whom he was called the Muscovy beast. Charles 
II. used to call him Old Tom of Muscovy ; and he is sup- 
posed to have acquired his cruel tendencies while in the 
Russian service. Alexis also cherished plans for the forma- 
tion of a navy, and had taken into his pay some Dutch 
shipbuilders, of whom we shall hear more presently. At this 
time Russia had no ports, with the exception of Archangel. 
The same idea of getting an outlet to the sea had been formed 
a hundred years before by Ivan the Terrible. 

In 1676 Alexis died, at the age of forty-six. He was a 
corpulent, fair-haired man, to judge by the portraits of him, 
several of which have been preserved. There is a good 
contemporary likeness of him in the old editions of the 
traveller Olearius. Through the pages of Collins we seem 
to get as clear a personal knowledge of Alexis as we do of 
Ivan the Terrible from the picturesque diary of Horsey. 
Alexis left two sons and four daughters by his first, and a son 
and daughter by his second, marriage. The proper successor 
to the throne was the eldest son Feodor, who was, however, 
as also was his next brother Ivan, of a very sickly constitution, 
and subject to epileptic fits. The second daughter, the 
Princess Sophia, was a woman of masculine character, and 
possessed both talents and energy. These qualities were the 
more remarkable, because, as has been previously said, the 
life of women in Russia under the old regime was one of 
seclusion. Sophia thus found herself, at her father's death, 
with two sickly brothers, and a step-brother (the future 
Peter I.), who was a child of little more than four years of 
age. She accordingly took upon herself to act as their guardian 
and to administer the Empire as Regent. She had hitherto 
only been known as a very dutiful daughter, who had nursed 
her father with much tenderness during his last illness at 



1676] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 5 

Kolomenskoe, his favourite residence near Moscow. As 
regards her personal appearance, if we may judge from such 
portraits of her as have come down to us, she was a mas- 
culine looking woman with strongly marked features. Some 
of the writers of the eighteenth century, especially de Neuville, 
speak of her as coarse and ugly; but Perry, who was in 
Russia in the time of Peter, and, if he did not himself see 
her, must have heard people speak of her who had done 
so, calls her good-looking. Feodor had a short and un- 
eventful reign. The Zaporozhian Cossacks, who in 1652 
had given their allegiance to Russia, showed a certain 
amount of wavering in their fidelity and seemed inclined to 
transfer their services to Turkey. 

The Cossacks, who often figure in Russian and Polish 
annals, were the descendants of Russians, Poles and Tatars, 
who being either outlaws or landless men, had betaken them- 
selves to the vast territories lying between Russia, Poland and 
the dominions of the Turks. No one has described these 
wild lands better than the Polish novelist Sienkiewicz, in 
his spirited tale, " With Fire and Sword." As regards the 
word Cossack, which is an adaptation of Kazak, it is of 
Tatar origin and signifies a robber. When we first hear of 
them we find them divided into two great families, settled 
respectively on the Don and the Dnieper. The Don Cossacks 
were subject to Russia certainly as early as the days of Ivan 
the Terrible. The Cossacks of the Dnieper were subject to 
the Poles, but their subjection was little more than a nomi- 
nal one. They lived upon plunder, and sallying forth from 
some fortified islands on the Dnieper, where they had estab- 
lished their setch, or encampment, they carried desolation to 
the very walls of Constantinople. Of these Polish Cossacks 
we first hear in the time of King Stephen Batory, who per- 
ceiving what valuable frontier men they would make, organised 
them into regiments. The first complete account of them, 
however, was given by Beauplan in his work on the Ukraine 
("Description d'Ukraine," Paris, 1660). He was able to 
describe them from personal observation, having been em- 



6 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1677 

ployed among them by the Polish king, John Casimir, as an 
engineer. The next writer on the subject was Edward Brown, 
the English traveller. In a recent Russian work, by Mr 
Evarnitski, many interesting details are given, and the book 
is ornamented with pictures of some Cossack reliques which 
are still preserved. 

The Cossacks who dwelt on the Dnieper are sometimes 
called Zaporozhian because they lived beyond the porogi or 
waterfalls. However satisfactorily these bold marauders 
may have arranged matters with Stephen Batory, under the 
rule of Sigismund III. they could not very long endure the 
oppression of their Polish masters. To the other persecu- 
tions which they endured was now added the religious pro- 
paganda of the Jesuits, and especially Skarga, and thus they 
came to transfer their allegiance to the Russians in 1652. 

Doroshenko, the hetman as their chief was called, from the 
German hauptman, would not deliver up Chigirin and twice 
summoned aid from the Turks. Nor had the Poles finally 
surrendered their claims to the territory which had been ceded 
by the treaty of Andruszowo on the right bank of the Dnieper 
(1667). Poland was now under the vigorous rule of John 
Sobieski. 

The Russian general Romodanovski drove the Mussulmans 
out of the southern part of Russia but not before they had 
ravaged the country in merciless fashion. Finally Doro- 
shenko was compelled to surrender the hetmanship to 
Samoilovich and died in obscurity in Russia. With him the 
glory of the Cossacks departed. Feodor refused to surrender 
the points gained by the treaty of Andruszowo; and Kiev, with 
part of the Ukraine, was for ever lost to the Poles. Kiev, 
one of the Russian mother cities, first becomes known in 
history about the beginning of the eighth century. It was the 
cradle of Russian Christianity, for here Vladimir, " the bright 
sun " of the Russian /'///>//, ruled and became a Christian. 
In 1240 it suffered greatly from the inroads of the Tatars, 
and in 1320 it was conquered by the Lithuanian Prince 
Gedymin, and when Lithuania was annexed to Poland by 



1682] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 7 

the marriage of Jagiello with Jadwiga it became a Polish 
city. 

In 1 68 1 peace was concluded between Russia and the Sultan. 

The most important event, however, of the reign of 
Feodor, was the destruction of the rozriadtiia knigi or books 
of pedigrees. According to the institution of the mestni- 
stchestvo, no man could fill an office inferior to any which 
his forefathers had held, or would accept a lower position 
than any man who counted fewer ancestors than himself. 
The custom seems entirely Oriental. Thus we are told in 
a Russian work on Persia that people send to enquire below 
what others they will have to sit before they make their 
appearance at a banquet given by the minister. These 
continual questions of precedence weakened the country. 
Boris Godunov had, at the beginning of the century, formed 
plans for the abolition of the evil : but it was reserved for 
Feodor to put an end to it. He caused the books of 
pedigrees to be sent to him under the pretext of seeing if 
they were correct, and had them burned in his presence 
and that of the assembly. He died without issue in 1682 : 
at his death the country found itself in a somewhat critical 
state. The two chief factions of the court consisted of the 
Miloslavskis and the Narishkins, the relatives respectively 
of the first and second wife of Alexis. Besides these there 
was the powerful faction of the Golitsins. Ivan, the next 
in order of succession, was an even greater invalid than his 
brother, and the Narishkin party maintained that he ought 
to be altogether set aside and Peter crowned in his place. 
According to Perry, Feodor had bequeathed the succession 
to his younger brother Peter, because Ivan, by reason of the 
weakness of his eyes and the infirmity of his constitution, 
was unfit for the government. He was also said to be 
" skorbni glavoyu" weak in the head. 

This dispute furnished Sophia with her opportunity. Like 
other Russian women who were conspicuous during the early 
period in the realms of literature or politics, she succeeded 
in emancipating herself from the trammels of Oriental tradi- 



8 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1682 

tion. Sophia, the wife of Ivan III., who was, originally, 
Zoe Palaeologa, does not seem to have felt her proud 
Byzantine spirit crushed in Russia. She ruled her husband 
Ivan, and persuaded him to cast off the Tatar yoke ; and 
as we know from the correspondence (which has been 
published) she tried to make her daughter Helen adopt 
a like attitude towards her husband, Alexander, the King 
of Poland. What Sir George Macartney, the English 
Ambassador in the eighteenth century, said of the position 
of women in Russia, we shall see later on. 

Sophia was at this time only twenty-five years of age. 
She defied, however, all traditional usages, and made her 
first appearance in public at the funeral of Feodor. 

At this time there were some men at the Russian court 
who might be styled more or less men of letters, and these 
encouraged Sophia in her aspirations. Special mention may 
be made of Simeon Polotski, who had been educated at 
Kiev and summoned to Moscow by Alexis to be the tutor of 
his children, and had imbibed some of the learning of the 
west. He was a writer of religious plays, and also published 
a metrical version of the psalms. He dedicated his book. 
"The Crown of Faith," to Sophia. There seems, however, 
to be no justification for the assertion which has been made 
that Sophia translated the Malade Imagitiaire of Moliere. 
There is no reason to believe that she was acquainted with 
any other language than her own. The first person who 
favoured French plays in the country was Natalia, a younger 
sister of Peter the Great, who died in 1716. 1 

Sophia now placed herself at the head of a revolt, nominally 
in favour of her brother, and fomented an outbreak of the 
Streltsi. These celebrated soldiers (the name is derived 
from s/r/e/a, an arrow) were the praetorian cohorts of Russia. 

' In 1899 a work was published by Mr Shliapkin, entitled "'Natalia 
Aleksievna and the theatre in her time." in which he prints some of 
the pieces acted at Natalia's theatre. Only the titles of these were 
known till the manuscript was found at Veliki Ustioug see Morozov, 
" Istoria Russkago Theatra," vol. i. 107 . 



1682] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 9 

Mayerberg, who wrote an interesting book of travels towards 
the close of the seventeenth century, says of them : " The 
Tsar has continually under arms 40,000 men for his guard, 
who are called Streltsi by the Muscovites : the third of these 
he keeps about his person and the rest are sent to the 
fortified places on the frontier. Their colonels and captains 
have for their pay certain revenues assigned on the property 
of the Tsar as a kind of life interest : besides this every year 
they receive clothes and money as presents." 

The rebellion broke out on the 15th of May 1682. To the 
number of twenty thousand (followed by a vast crowd) the 
malcontents came into the precincts of the Kremlin. The 
widowed Empress made her appearance on the famous Red 
Staircase, accompanied by Ivan and Peter. At first the mob 
showed signs of wavering. The infuriated soldiery were 
pacified by the speeches of Matveov, who had great influence 
owing to his connection with the Tsaritsa and by the exhor- 
tations of the Patriarch. It seemed as if the riot was at an 
end, and that the malicious designs of the Miloslavskis had 
been frustrated. Unfortunately Michael Dolgoruki, who was 
chief of the prikaz or office of the Streltsi, began abusing them 
for their seditious conduct. This infuriated them, and 
Dolgoruki was thrown upon the pikes of the rebels, at the 
foot of the Red Staircase. The Streltsi then amused them- 
selves with hunting down obnoxious persons amid cries of 
linbo it, i.e. "would you like to have them?" and on an 
answer being given in the affirmative, each miserable victim 
was quickly despatched. The riots lasted three days. The 
Kremlin ran with the blood of some of the most illustrious 
houses in Russia. About seventy persons perished, including 
the benevolent Matveov, the great minister of Alexis and 
guardian of the Tsaritsa ; as did also her father Cyril and her 
brother Ivan. Seven days elapsed before the mutineers could 
be said to be completely pacified. How far Sophia was really 
privy to all this will probably never be known : certainly when 
the Streltsi showed signs of coming to their senses they sent a 
deputation to say that they wished to have two Tsars. At this 



io A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i6S2 

time it was even rumoured that the Tsar Feodor had been 
deprived of his life by the physicians at the instigation of 
some of the chief boyars ; and to more thoroughly irritate 
the Streltsi it was said that a design had been formed to mix 
poison with the brandy and beer which were to be given them 
at the Tsar Feodor's funeral. 

Nothing of this sort of rule had been known in Russia, and 
the brothers were to sit upon a double throne. The proclama- 
tion was made by the victorious soldiers, May 26, 1682. 
Sophia really was to govern in the name of her brothers. 

Ivan, who was weak alike in mind and body, made no effort 
towards taking any part in the government, but left everything 
to his brother Peter, and died in 1696. Most of his time had 
been passed in the village of Izmaelovo, close by Moscow, 
which was his property. On January 21st, 1684, he had 
married Prascovia Saltikov, whose great grandfather, Michael 
Glebovich Saltikov, was a conspicuous figure in Russian 
history. In the Time of Troubles (Smutnoe Vremya), as it is 
called, he supported the cause of the Poles, and assisted 
YYladyslaw, the son of Sigismund, in his aspirations to the 
Russian throne. But he met with no sympathy from the 
Russian people, and in the year 161 2, when the Polish cause 
seemed completely lost, betook himself with all his family to 
Poland. His grandson, Alexander, when Smolensk was 
captured by the Tsar Alexis, took the oath of allegiance to 
the latter, and returned to the property which had once 
belonged to his family. He was for some time Voievode of 
Venisseisk, and thence was summoned by Sophia to be 
Voievode of Kiev. The family of the Saltikovs met with 
great favour from Sophia, as is evidenced by this appoint- 
ment, and it was probably she who arranged her brother's 
marriage, for in such an important matter he was hardly 
likely to have been able to act without advice. Ivan had 
five daughters, of whom only three survived their infancy : 
Catherine, born in 1692, Anne, born in 1693, and Prascovia, 
born in 1694. 

Ivan enjoyed all the honours associated with his imperial 



1696] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER n 

rank, appearing to the people on triumphal occasions, and 
being present at the reception of foreign ambassadors. His 
name also figures with that of Peter in all State documents. 
So he continued till his sudden death, on February ioth, 1696. 
Peter, who was ruthless towards any one who opposed his will, 
was always gracious to those who showed compliance. He 
treated the widow of his brother with great kindness, and 
allowed her to continue to live in her village of Izmaelovo, 
and also provided her with an ample revenue. Besides 
Izmaelovo, she had estates in the government of Pskov 
Novgorod, and Nizhni - Novgorod, her property being 
managed for her by her brother Basil. The description 
which has been handed down to us of her large retinue of 
servants gives a curious picture of the life of the old-fashioned 
Russian boyar, and we may linger upon it, as it is a picture 
of a state of things which was more or less passing away 
even in the time of Peter. 

The widowed Empress was surrounded by conjurors, wise 
women, idiots, dwarfs, and the usual retinue. Tatistchev, 
the historian, visited her in her home at Izmaelovo, and 
said that it resembled an hospital built for cripples and 
imbeciles. A certain fanatic named Timothy Arkhipich had 
great influence with the Tsaritsa on account of his supposed 
gift of prophecy. Peter did not like the miscellaneous rabble 
who filled the house of his sister-in-law, and accordingly when 
he visited her they retired into concealment in various out- 
houses. However, as she had always showed herself duly 
submissive, he was purposely blind to a great deal which was 
displeasing to him. On the other hand, to oblige her brother, 
she not only visited the foreign quarter of Moscow, but 
allowed her daughters to appear there in " German " dresses, 
as they were called. Finally Peter induced her and other of 
his relatives to come to St Petersburg. There is but little 
more to be told about her, but two of her daughters were 
destined to occupy prominent places in Russian history. 
Catherine married to the Duke of Mecklenburg, and Anne 
the Tsaritsa. The third daughter, Prascovia, died in 1731. 



12 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i696 

According to some accounts she was privately married to the 
Senator Ivan Ilyich Dmitriev-Mamonov. 

Before long popular prejudice against the rule of a woman 
showed itself too strong to be resisted. Meanwhile Sophia's 
favourite, Basil Golitsin, had great influence over her, and is 
even said to have pretended to her hand. 

In 1686 the final arrangement with Poland was effected. 
From this time we hear of no more efforts to recover Kiev. But 
the city even so late as the nineteenth century retained many 
traces of its quondam Polish lords which perhaps were hardly 
obliterated till the reign of Nicholas. Thus there was a 
Polish theatre; and Poles are still to be found among the 
magnates of many of the surrounding governments. 

With Kiev there had also been lost to Poland Smolensk 
and Chernigov, the former a city of very great importance on 
account of its position on the Dnieper, one of the main arteries 
of Russia. In former times it had continually changed hands, 
oscillating between Poland and Russia; but from this time 
onward it remains Russian. 

In 1687 the Russians sent an embassy to the court of 
France; the ambassadors are said to have comported them- 
selves very badly during their stay. Prosorovski was also 
sent as ambassador to England. Russia was rapidly getting 
into closer touch with the West. Scotch adventurers had 
swarmed thither from the days of Ivan the Terrible. The 
false Demetrius had a bodyguard of Scotchmen, and in the 
reign of Michael Romanov had arrived as a soldier of fortune 
that Learmont who was to be the progenitor of the second 
greatest Russian poet, Michael Lermontov. Patrick Gordon, 
destined to become the great fellow-worker with Peter, first 
made his appearance in Russia in the reign of Alexis. He 
was one of those younger sons who left their native country 
because there was no calling open to them ; any profession 
other than that of arms being held to be beneath the con- 
sideration of a gentleman. Gordon, the son of an Aberdeen- 
shire laird, was born in Scotland in 1635. W T e are able to 
follow his fortunes because he has left a valuable diary ; but 



169C] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 13 

as to the majority of his countrymen in the Russian service 
our information is of the scantiest. It is the doom of the 
mercenary soldier to be forgotten in his own country, and to 
be not very spontaneously mentioned in that of his adoption ; 
for it is not an acceptable thought to a people that their 
deeds of national glory should have been initiated or shared 
in by foreigners. 

After having been in both the Swedish and Polish services, 
and like a true Dugald Dalgetty, having freely transferred 
himself from one side to the other while they were fighting, 
Gordon arrived in Russia in 1661. Alexis, a worthy pre- 
decessor of Peter, was already looking ahead. The breath 
of regeneration was beginning to stir the country. Gordon 
had served in the Turkish war and had been raised to the rank 
of general by Feodor the brother of Peter, but the important 
crisis of his life presented itself when he threw in his lot with 
the great regenerator of Russia. Gordon trained and com- 
manded the new regiments which were formed. 

In 1676 arrived another man also destined to write his 
name in the annals of Russia, the Genevese Lefort. He was 
born at Geneva in 1656. He assisted Peter in training his 
little army and became one of his most trusted officers. Un- 
doubtedly he had great influence over the boy Tsar, who, 
clever as he was, would naturally work up to models. He 
was not destined, however, to live to see all the glories of bm 
pupil. Lefort in fact may be considered Peter's chief tutor. 
He told the boy striking stories of the countries he had 
visited, and made him understand the importance of ships. 
This led to the building of miniature vessels with masts, sails 
and guns on the Pereislavski lake near Moscow, and it was 
with these that the future ruler of Russia diverted himself. 
Under his direction several sham fights took place, in which 
he commanded as captain. Thus a love of the sea was in- 
stilled in Peter although we are told that at first he had a 
dread of salt water. 

In 1687, while Peter, still a boy in years, was imbibing 
knowledge from every quarter, Basil Golitsin conducted a 



14 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i696 

campaign against the Tatars .of the Crimea who were con- 
tinually harrying the southern Russian provinces. Of this 
expedition, Gordon, who was quartermaster, has left us a 
circumstantial account. It fell to his lot to find the means of 
transport, to reconnoitre the line of advance, to make the 
roads and bridges, and to determine where the camp should 
be pitched for the night. The route lay over the steppe 
where the Tatars had abundance of light horse, so that the 
Russians were obliged to march in dense columns flanked by 
rows of waggons, so as to break the charges of the enemy. 
By the middle of June the army had reached the lower 
steppes of the Dnieper. The grass, however, was set on fire 
either by the Tatars or (as was suspected) by the Cossack 
allies of the invading force, and the consequent dearth of 
forage for the horses compelled the Russians to retreat. The 
troops were soon afterwards disbanded, thanked, and sub- 
stantial rewards were bestowed upon the officers, Gordon 
being made general. But in consequence of the failure of 
the expedition Golitsin became very unpopular. Several 
attempts were made to assassinate him, and once, on the 
eve of his departure upon one of his campaigns, a coffin with 
his name upon it was found placed by the door of his house. 
Sophia also had become very unpopular in another way. 
Imbued with liberal ideas, as has been already mentioned, 
she had, among other things, favoured the changes which 
Nikon had introduced into the sacred books, and which had 
led to the great schism in the Russian Church. But the 
Streltsi were siaro-obriadtsi, and not disposed to welcome 
such changes. They broke out into another rebellion, which 
this time, however, was successfully checked, the ringleaders 
being executed. The fact was that Sophia was fortunate 
enough to have secured the support of the new head of the 
Streltsi, Shakloviti. The more we read about this extra- 
ordinary woman the more struck we are with the vigour of 
her character and her bold efforts to escape from the 
monotony of an ordinary woman's life in Russia. She is one 
of the suppressed figures of history, one of the individuals 



1696] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 15 

against whom the fates were arrayed. Peter is said to have 
often expressed his admiration of her strong character. 

It was not until 1688 that Gordon became more intimately 
associated with Peter, whose name from that time begins to 
occur more often in his diary. Peter makes his appearance 
on occasions of political importance : thus, on January 25, 
1688, Gordon notes that a privy council was held, at which 
the Princess Sophia and both the Tsars were present, the 
younger for the first time. Gordon had -still a good many 
enemies; the Patriarch had said openly that the Russian 
army could never prosper while they were led by a heretic. 
We constantly, however, read of more and more intercourse 
between Gordon and Peter ; the lessons learnt by the latter 
from him, and from Lefort, and from the Dutch carpenter 
Timmermann, were all to have their due effect. But Peter 
was more or less a self-educated man ; his early training had 
been of a superficial kind, and much of his work suffered 
accordingly. 

On the 20th of January 1689 Peter, now in his seven- 
teenth year, was married to Evdokia (Eudoxia) Feodorovna 
Lopukhin. This union was destined to be unhappy, for 
reasons which will manifest themselves more clearly later. 
According to Father Avril, about this time Peter was seized 
with an attack of the falling sickness, a disease which the 
worthy priest declares to have been hereditary in his family. 
Of the convulsive seizures of Peter we shall shortly hear more. 
Two children were the issue of the marriage : a son, the 
unfortunate Alexis, and a daughter, who died in infancy. If 
we may trust the portraits which have come down to us, 
Evdokia was not a woman of great personal attractions. 

The renewal of the war against the Tatars was now resolved 
upon, and in February Gordon was told to get matters in 
readiness. He was first required to furnish plans of the 
military lines of defence on the Dnieper, and to make certain 
other arrangements. Having discharged these duties to the 
great satisfaction of the court, he set out to join the army, 
acting, as before, in the capacity of quartermaster-general. 



i6 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [im 

By the end of May he had conducted it as far as Perekop, 
when the expedition was declared to be too hazardous, and 
the army was ordered to return. Rewards were again dis- 
tributed among the officers, but not without strong opposition 
on the part of Peter. The latter treated Gordon with marked 
distinction, and gave him a glass of brandy with his own 
hands, which was considered one of the highest compliments 
which the sovereign could pay. On the 16th of August the 
wrath of the Streltsi broke out. At midnight Peter was told 
that orders had been issued from the Kremlin to march upon 
the village of Preobrazhenskoe, where he and his favourites 
used to reside, and to put certain persons to death. He 
instantly leaped from his bed, took the first horse he could 
find in the stables, and galloped into a wood, where he hid 
himself till joined by some of his attendants. He then rode 
in hot haste to the monastery of the Troitsa, about forty 
miles from Moscow, which he reached about six o'clock in 
the morning. Here he threw himself upon a bed, and sought 
the protection of the Igumen. 

The great duel between Peter and his ambitious sister was 
now to be fought out. Peter summoned the Streltsi and other 
troops to join him at the monastery of the Troitsa, but the 
princess issued counter orders. The Tsar thereupon addressed 
a written command to his foreign officers, in which he de- 
clared that there was a conspiracy against his life. Gordon 
undertook to show this paper to Golitsin, and to ask him 
what was to be done. The latter said he would consult the 
elder Tsar and the Princess Sophia. To which Gordon 
replied, that if he and his brother officers were to disobey, 
their heads would be in danger. Golitsin assured him that 
he should have an answer before night, and desired that 
Gordon's son-in-law, Colonel Strasburg, might be left behind 
to take it. Gordon now thoroughly realised the situation. 
He went home, and immediately began to prepare for 
marching. When the other officers arrived, he told them 
that whatever orders might come from the Kremlin he would 
set out for the monastery that night. They resolved to follow 



1696] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 17 

his example, and by the next day all had reached the 
monastery. The young Tsar was at his mid- day dinner when 
their arrival was announced. Gordon was at once admitted 
to his presence and ordered to keep by his side, while the 
other officers remained with their regiments outside the 
monastery. This conduct upon Gordon's part gained for 
him gratitude ; and the heretic general was destined to die in 
the arms of his august master, who mourned for him as his 
most faithful friend. 

Four days afterwards Peter entered Moscow in triumph, 
and the trial of the conspirators began. Shakloviti, the second 
favourite, as Gordon calls him, was tortured and beheaded, 
together with many others ; the Tsar's reluctance to shed blood 
having been overcome by the Patriarch. Golitsin owed his 
life to the intercession of a relative, being exiled with his son 
to Yarensk, in the Government of Vologda. His estates were 
confiscated, and he died in the Government of Archangel in 
1 7 13. The Princess Sophia was sent to a convent, where she 
took the name of Susannah ; and there she died after a seclu- 
sion of fifteen years. Peter was now absolute master of the 
situation, as the weak-minded Ivan readily resigned all autho- 
rity into his hands. The revolution was in every way com- 
plete ; it had been triumphantly carried out by the energetic 
Scotch adventurer. Henceforward we find Gordon on the 
most cordial and intimate terms with the Tsar, and constantly 
dining with him. In 1690 he heads a deputation from the 
regiments to congratulate Peter on the birth of his son, the 
unfortunate Alexis ; and when Gordon's daughter, Mary, was 
married to Captain Daniel Crawford, Peter graced the nuptial 
ceremony with his presence. In 1695 war was declared 
against Turkey, and Gordon was ordered to march upon 
Azov, This place, once of great importance, has now re- 
lapsed into insignificance, owing in a great measure to the 
juxtaposition of Rostov. 

Peter was now beginning to entertain plans for getting an 
outlet to the sea. The cruel but astute Ivan the terrible had 
aimed at this when he endeavoured to get hold of Livonia. 

B 



1 8 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1696 

Without some ice-free port Russia could not develop her 
commerce, and was at the mercy of Pole, Swede, and 
Turk. 

Gordon reached Azov on the 27th of March, and two days 
afterwards was joined by the Tsar and Alexei Shein, the com- 
mander-in-chief. Menshikov, the celebrated favourite of Peter, 
and Sheremetiev, one of his most renowned generals, were 
also with him. Sheremetiev was despatched to the Dnieper 
with a separate foice, in order to draw off the Tatars from 
Azov, by threatening them with an attack in the Crimea. 
Sheremetiev laid siege to Kizi-Kermen (now Berislavl) July 
6th, and forced it to surrender. Three other Turkish for- 
tresses capitulated without fighting. The Cossacks recon- 
noitered as far as Ochakov, and towards the middle of June 
Azov was invested. In July the besieged made a sally on 
Gordon's division, but were repulsed. During the following 
night a Dutchman or German, as he has been styled, named 
Jansen, went over to the Turks and betrayed to them the 
weak points of the Russian lines. The next sally was in con- 
sequence directed against Lefort's quarter, and was almost 
successful ; the division was saved from destruction only by 
the opportune interposition of Gordon. In August two other 
assaults were made, against the advice of Gordon, and were 
both repulsed. The siege had to be raised, and the Tsar with 
his generals returned to Moscow in October. This expedition 
of Sheremetiev, however, was not altogether fruitless, as it 
paved the way for another attack on Azov in the following 
year. Sheremetiev founded a new fortress on the island of 
Tavan, in the Dnieper. 

In 1696, the year in which Ivan died, Gordon was again 
marching upon Azov at the head of about 15,000 infantry. 
The second siege began in June, and Sheremetiev was again 
sent to the Dnieper to create a division. The place was 
eventually taken the same year by Gordon's plan of filling up 
the ditch and making a huge rampart of earth in front of the 
town. The method of the siege has been described by Alex- 
ander Gordon, the son-in-law of Gordon, in his "History of 



1697] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 19 

Peter the Great " (Aberdeen, 1755). The renegade Dutchman 
was surrendered, although to save himself he had turned 
Mussulman. The victorious army returned in triumph to 
Moscow on the 9th of October. The Tsar made a gorgeous 
procession through the streets of the capital, and Jansen, who 
was carried, tied to a gallows, was immediately afterwards put 
to death. From the fall of Azov may be said to date the 
active interference of the Russians in Turkey. As a result of 
this policy, the rayahs felt their condition much improved, for 
hitherto none of the Christian powers had offered them any 
succour. Indeed, it had at one time seemed probable that 
all the Christian subjects of the Porte would be converted to 
Islam. 

In the succeeding year (1697) Peter set out on his travels 
in Western Europe. He had long been maturing the plan. 
The command of military affairs during his absence was left 
to Shein as general-in-chief, and Gordon was to act as his 
subordinate. Perry, Peter's engineer, in his book on Russia, 
tells us that the Tsar left 12,000 men to be quartered in the 
suburbs of Moscow under the care of General Gordon. The 
latter paid another visit to Azov with the view of strengthen- 
ing the fortifications. From Azov he proceeded to Taganrog, 
where the Tsar had, the year before, resolved to build a 
fortress. By his presence he put a stop to an attack on the 
cities of the Ukraine, which had been planned by the Tatars ; 
and then finding no further occupation for his arms, he 
returned to Moscow. 

Peter set out upon his journey practically incognito, under 
the name of Peter Mikhailov, and in the capacity of one of 
the suite of the three ambassadors, Lefort, Golovin, and 
Voznitsin. S^ich a step was, indeed, a great breaking with 
the past ; for among the earlier Russians to evince any desire 
for travel was to commit a crime. The party proceeded 
through Riga to Mittau \ at Konigsberg Peter had an inter- 
view with the Elector of Prussia. He passed, however, rapidly 
through Berlin, and by degrees he reached Saardam, in 
Holland, being probably attracted to that country by its 



20 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1697 

celebrity as a maritime power. In Holland Peter worked at 
the dockyard under the name of Peter Baas, or Master Peter ; 
and here Menshikov laboured with him. 

This remarkable man after the deaths of Lefort and Gordon 
occupied the most prominent place at the Court of Peter, and 
became his chief favourite. There seems every reason to 
believe that the stories told about the origin of Menshikov 
are strictly true. He was a pastry-cook's boy, who sold 
pirozliki (little pies) about the streets of Moscow, carrying 
them on a tray, as may so often be seen there at the present 
time. He was introduced to the notice of Peter by Lefort, 
and attracted the attention of the former by his wit and 
sprightliness. When he afterwards attained great dignity 
attempts were made to derive his ancestry from a noble family 
— in this case Lithuanian. When Peter first saw Menshikov 
at the house of Lefort, who had made him his servant, the 
lad was fourteen years of age, having been born in 1672. 
From that time he was constantly in attendance upon Peter, to 
whom by degrees he became indispensable, and by whom he 
was enrolled in his favourite corps called Potieshnie. Men- 
shikov seemed well fitted for almost everything he undertook. 
He was a good soldier, and when Peter went on any naval 
excursions Menshikov could pull a good oar and climb the 
masts of the vessels. He is also said to have revealed the 
conspiracy of Sokovnin and Tsikler, who intended to assassi- 
nate Peter, which was frustrated by the prompt energy of the 
Tsar. On this his first journey Menshikov shared in all his 
master's labours and amusement. Peter being a magnetic 
man, had a wonderful way of assimilating all the good material 
round him. Everywhere he displayed an insatiable curiosity. 
The certificate of efficiency in various handicrafts which Peter 
received from the head of the dockyard, one, Gerrit Claesz 
Pool, is still preserved. 

He next visited England, being, it is said, induced to do so 
by one John Fessing, an Englishman, whom he met. The 
young Tsar crossed the Channel in i6n>i. He had already 
met William III. at the Hague. 



1693] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 21 

Peter especially liked the society of the Marquis of Car- 
marthen, who at a later period became Duke of Leeds, on 
account of his nautical skill, " and would row and sail with 
him upon the water," adds Perry the engineer, "of which 
obligations and kindness of my Lord Marquis to him I have 
many times heard him speak with great affection." Peter 
always expressed admiration of England. He worked for a 
short time at Deptford, where the Government hired for him 
Sayes Court, the seat of the famous John Evelyn. The latter 
had previously let his premises to Captain Benbow (after- 
wards the admiral), who underlet them to the Government for 
the use of the Tsar. 

A bill of damages to the amount of ^350, 9s. 6d. was after- 
wards sent in to the Government by the owner; so much 
had the house suffered from its noisy tenants. Peter visited 
Oxford during his stay in our country, but unfortunately no 
records of the visit have been preserved. 

For our account of Peter's visit to England we are chiefly 
indebted to the English newspapers of the time, the Post- 
master, the Postman, and the Postboy, and some notices in 
private letters. There is a Russian book of good stories 
about him, compiled by one of his attendants named Nartov, 
which has been published in the Transactions of the Academy 
of St Petersburg. Unfortunately some of these tales seem 
to be copied from works like Staehlin's anecdotes. In 
London a large house was taken for Peter and his suite in 
York Buildings ; these premises have been pulled down 
since. Peter, however, disliked all ceremony and kept 
himself retired as much as possible. Nothing seems to 
have annoyed him so much as to be stared at. Some 
Quakers, however, contrived to see him and had a con- 
versation with him through his interpreter. Peter put the 
practical question to them as to what use could be made in 
a country of people who declined to bear arms. It will be 
remembered that some Quakers paid Nicholas I. a visit just 
before the Crimean War, and were received by him very 
affably. Indeed, in the Molokani the Russians have the 



22 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [icqs 

same sort of enthusiasts to deal with. When he was at 
Deptford William Penn also went to see him and had a 
long conversation with him. Peter is said to have had a 
great respect for the Quakers, and we are told that on more 
than one occasion he visited their meeting-house. The Tsar 
also went to the theatre, the representations at which, owing 
to his not being acquainted with English, must have been a 
mere spectacle and empty pageant to him ; the play which 
he witnessed was the Rival Quee?i$ or Alexander the Great, 
by Nathaniel Lee. He is said, in company with Menshikov 
and some other persons of his suite, to have frequently 
visited a public-house on Tower Hill, where he could un- 
molested smoke and drink brandy, which, according to 
some accounts, he was fond of peppering. 

When he left England, the keeper of the tavern, proud of 
his imperial guest, had his portrait painted and hung up as 
the sign of the inn. Here it remained for a long time till, 
its existence becoming known to them, it was purchased as 
a curiosity by the Russian Government, and now ornaments 
the Public Library of St Petersburg. 

Although his visit to Oxford is so wanting in significance, 
it was in this city and in this year that the first Russian 
grammar was printed. It was written in Latin by a certain 
Henry Ludolf, nephew of Job Ludolf, the Ethiopic scholar. 
If Peter did not carry away from England any constitutional 
ideas, which indeed would have been a difficult study for 
him, he took with him those notions of curbing the authority of 
the Church, which he afterwards embodied in the Reglament. 

The impression created by Peter upon the English with 
whom he was brought into contact seems to have been varied. 
We are told that William III. admired Peter and was very 
fond of conversing with him, which he was able to do 
with tolerable freedom, as the Russian Tsar spoke Dutch. 
Burnet's opinion of him has often been quoted. The Bishop 
says : " He wants not capacity and has a larger knowledge 
than might be expected from his education.'' On the whole, 
Burnet had not much insight into the character of this 



1693] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 23 

remarkable man, and evidently had no idea of the great 
part he was about to play. At the request of William IIT. 
Sir Godfrey Kneller painted the portrait of Peter, which is 
now at Hampton Court. It is a very characteristic picture, 
and is said to be an excellent likeness. It shows a spirited, 
bright-looking young man with very expressive eyes. It may 
be taken undoubtedly as the most correct representation of 
Peter, as he never afterwards had his portrait painted by such 
an eminent and sympathetic hand. 

Perry says that Peter during his stay in England 
occupied himself chiefly with nautical matters. He often 
worked in Deptford Yard as he had done in Holland, 
so curious was he in everything mechanical that he even 
caused the model of an English coffin to be sent to Russia. 
When he visited William III.'s palace he paid no attention 
to the pictures, but only to an ingenious contrivance for 
ascertaining the direction of the wind. While he was in 
England, we are told, he used to dress himself after the 
English fashion, sometimes as a gentleman and sometimes 
as a seaman. To the Marquis of Carmarthen who had been 
very courteous to him in conducting him about, he gave a 
duty of five shillings upon every hogshead of tobacco im- 
ported into Russia. The herb had previously been forbidden 
by the Patriarch. "To this day," adds Perry, "a priest will 
not come into any room where tobacco is smoked." 

William III. arranged a sham sea-fight at Spithead for the 
benefit of his visitor, and finally Peter departed from England 
taking with him many persons who were to enter the Russian 
service — engineers, mechanics, mathematicians, soldiers and 
sailors — many Englishmen and more Scots. The latter in 
many instances were destined to bequeath their names in 
forms more or less changed to Russian descendants. 

Peter's example as a traveller in search of information was 
followed by Sheremetiev, the boyar of ancient family who 
was destined to occupy such a prominent position during 
this reign. He was as much as his master smitten with a 
reforming zeal, and like him resolved to educate himself; 



24 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i698 

notwithstanding his high rank, and his forty-five years, his 
duties as blizhni boyarin, i.e. boyar in close attendance upon 
the Tsar, and his former high duties as General of the army, 
and minister, Sheremetiev volunteered to travel and learn 
the art of war. 

He went to study the naval armaments of the Maltese 
against the Ottomans and himself paid the expenses of his 
journey. In the same year as his Imperial master, May 1697, 
Sheremetiev left Moscow with a small suite. He took with 
him letters of recommendation from the Tsar. As a Russian 
nobleman he appeared at the audiences of the King of 
Poland, the Emperor Leopold, the Doge of Venice, Pope 
Innocent XL, the Duke of Tuscany, Cosmo III., and made 
them liberal presents of sables, arms and horses, and received 
rich gifts from them in return. He everywhere noted down 
what he thought remarkable. Among other things which 
greatly impressed him were St Peter's at Rome, and Vesuvius. 
From Sicily he sailed to Malta. Here the knights met him 
with great ceremony. He was decorated with a Maltese Cross 
set in diamonds, and, although married, made Knight of Malta. 
After an absence of two years, during which he served on 
board the Maltese fleet, he returned to Moscow and appeared 
before Peter dressed in a French coat with a Maltese Cross 
on his breast. His journey had cost him 20,000 roubles. 
The Tsar was in extasies with his trusty and dear Sheremetiev 
and from that time he became one of the chief favourites. 

On the occasion of his first journey in the West Peter did 
not visit France ; he had not been successful in his diplomatic 
efforts in Holland, one of which was to induce the States 
General to assist him in a war against the Turks. He 
turned, however, to Austria and was well received in Vienna. 
From there his original plan was to proceed to Venice that 
he might study some new forms of ship-building, but tidings 
reached him of the revolt of the Streltsi. A great insurrec- 
tion had broken out of the mutinous troops and others dis- 
affected to the new regime ; had it not been for the energy of 
Gordon the matter would have probably ended in the de- 



1698] THE EARLY DAYS OF PETER 25 

thronement of Peter. After various attempts had been made 
by the former to bring the mutineers to their senses, he 
directed his troops to fire and several were killed. The rest 
submitted and many prisoners were shut up in the monasteries. 
On being examined the ringleaders confessed that they had 
intended to march upon Moscow, to massacre certain of the 
boyars and to demand increase of pay and new regulations of 
service. Without waiting for Peter's return, Gordon began 
beheading and hanging, and in many cases had resort to 
torture. He records in his diary that, with few exceptions, 
those executed submitted to their fate with great indifference, 
crossing themselves in silence ; though some bade farewell to 
the bystanders. 

Peter reached Moscow by the 2nd of September, and 
Gordon's diary soon begins again to tell of executions and 
imprisonment. Great cruelties were inflicted upon the un- 
happy adherents of the old rigime, who were hanged and 
beheaded in considerable numbers. The account published 
in 1700 by Korb, the secretary of the German Emperor, gave 
offence to the Russian court, and was suppressed. For a 
long time the reactionaries were silenced, but they were 
certainly not quelled, and we continue to hear of occasional 
outbreaks till the death of Peter. In the following year, 1699, 
Gordon died, at the age of sixty-four, and was honoured by 
the Tsar with a public funeral. The body was conducted to 
the grave by twenty-eight colonels. His very interesting diary 
in six volumes, two of which have unfortunately been lost, 
has never been printed in its entirety, but is still preserved 
among the Archives of the Russian Foreign Office Portions 
have appeared in German, edited by Dr Posselt, and selec- 
tions were published in English for the Spalding Club in 
1859; these, however, are chiefly from those parts of the 
diary which relate to Scotland. Gordon was buried in the 
Roman Catholic Church in the Niemetskaya Sloboda in 
Moscow, which church he had himself been mainly instru- 
mental in building. The same year as Gordon, died also 
Lefort, who had accompanied Peter on his first journey in 



26 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [lttfl 

the capacity of chief ambassador. The remains of Lefort 
were buried in the Lutheran Church, also in the Xiemetskaya 
Sloboda, but no trace of his tomb can now be found. He 
was some twenty years younger than Gordon, being only 
forty-three at the time of his death. 

Peter had still one of his old supporters left, viz., Prince 
Feodor Romadonovski, who was chief of the department 
(prikaz) connected with the Preobrazhenski regiment. Many 
curious letters written to him by Peter have been preserved. 
It would appear from these that the Tsar was given to ad- 
dressing him by all kinds of bombastic titles when he felt 
humorously inclined. 



1700] 



CHAPTER II 

THE REIGN OF PETER— continued 

n^HE great duel between Peter and the gallant but reckless 
-■- Charles XII. was now to begin. Peter had thoroughly 
realised the need of an outlet to the sea. He had only par- 
tially succeeded at Azov, and was now to try his luck in the 
Baltic, which was at that time practically a Swedish lake. 
Sweden possessed in fact Finland, Ingermanland (or Ingria), 
Esthonia, Livonia, and Pomerania. Peter cast longing eyes 
upon the Baltic provinces, and was eager for an opportunity 
of carrying into effect the schemes which had been cherished 
by Ivan IV., and by his father Alexis. Such an opportunity 
was soon forthcoming. John Reinhold Patkul, who was 
destined subsequently to expiate, in so cruel a manner, his 
efforts in behalf of his native province, had been deputed by 
the Livorrian nobles to carry a complaint to Charles XL, the 
father of the celebrated Swedish king. The king affected to 
receive the petition with favour, but in a few days caused 
Patkul to be declared guilty of high treason, and condemned 
to death. Patkul, however, escaped, and thenceforward set 
himself to wreak vengeance upon the oppressor. He pro- 
posed to Augustus II. of Poland a plan by which Sweden 
should be simultaneously attacked on all sides. Poland was 
to take Livonia and Esthonia ; Russia, Ingria and Carelia ; 
and Denmark, Holstein. 

In 1697 Charles XL, who had ruled Sweden as an 
absolute monarch, died at the early age of forty-two. He 
left three children, the eldest of whom (born in 1682, 
and declared of age in 1699) succeeded him as Charles 



28 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1700 

XII. The character of this monarch is well known ; he 
seemed born for war. His army had been brought to a 
state of perfect discipline, and he could count upon many 
able and experienced generals. He now declared war against 
Peter. The Baltic campaign opened with the siege of Narva, 
in Ingria. This place was besieged by a force of 60,000 
Russians, under the command of the Due de Croy, a foreigner 
who had entered the service of the Tsar. A battle took place 
on November 30, 1700. The conduct of the Russian Tsar on 
this occasion has been the subject of much controversy. It 
is more than difficult to attribute cowardice to one who habi- 
tually showed such carelessness of his ow r n life. One thing, 
however, is certain, he absented himself from the battle. It 
has been conjectured that he had gone in quest of additional 
troops. The army brought together in front of Narva was 
little more than a disorderly rabble, consisting of a few regular 
regiments, which were lost among an overwhelming majority 
of Streltsi and other old-fashioned troops. Besides the Due 
de Croy, who had seen a good deal of service under the 
German Emperor, there were among the Russian generals, 
Dolgoruki, Golovin, Buturlin, and Alexander, Prince of 
Imeretia. 

The Russian general Sheremetiev was also present at the 
beginning of the siege. Relying on his boldness, carefulness 
and skill, Peter at first appointed him to assist Prince Dol- 
goruki, the generalissimo, but afterwards gave him an inde- 
pendent command of cavalry, with which Sheremetiev was to 
watch the movements of Charles, and give the Russians notice 
of his entering the province. The Swedish king was then 
marching more rapidly than was supposed to the relief of 
Narva. On November 10th Sheremetiev had a trifling victory 
at Purtsi, about nine miles from Narva, and gave information 
of the approach of the Swedes. The Tsar left the camp at 
Narva on November 29th, Sheremetiev being ordered to guard 
the passes in front of the town. The Russians had still to 
learn the art of war sufficiently to enable them to encounter 
disciplined troops. This first battle of Narva was to be a 



1700] THE REIGN OF PETER 29 

rude shock for them. Sheremetiev had shown much bravery 
in his battles with the Turks, but he dared not meet the 
terrible Swedes, the more so as he had been informed of the 
disorder in the Russian camp, where, in the absence of Peter, 
great want of discipline prevailed. The Due de Croy is said 
to have been a confirmed drunkard. On the first attack of 
the enemy, Sheremetiev left the passes and hastily came to 
the camp with his regiment. A military council was then 
held. Sheremetiev offered to leave the camp and to meet 
the Swedes in the field, where the superior numbers of the 
Russians might give them a chance of victory. But the others 
would not listen to him. The Swedes drew near. Everything 
was in a state of confusion. Foreseeing the fatal issue, Shere- 
metiev hastened to cross the river with his regiment. In doing 
so he lost many men, but finally reached Novgorod, where 
Peter was, and where he found Menshikov, who had left the 
camp together with the Tsar. 

Peter felt the reverse keenly, and thus writes about it in his 
journal : " And thus it is incontestable that the Swedes gained 
a victory over our troops, who were as yet only an undiscip- 
lined militia, for in this action there was only one old regiment, 
viz., that which was called Lefortovski (and which before that 
time had been called the Shepelevski regiment), two regiments 
of the Guards, who had only been to the two sieges of Azov, 
and had never fought in the open field, to say nothing 
of fighting with regular troops. As regards the other regi- 
ments, with the exception of some colonels, the officers 
and soldiers were only recruits, as has been previously 
said. To this must be added the scarcity of provisions caused 
by the bad season which prevented them from being brought 
up, so that one may say that it was rather child's play than a 
serious affair where skill was employed. It is not therefore 
astonishing that veteran troops, who had been practised and 
tried in the art of war, should have got the upper hand over 
such as we represent ours to be. It is true, however, that this 
victory caused us a very sensible annoyance, and made us 
despair of better luck in the future. It was even looked upon 



30 



A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 



[1700 



as a mark of the extreme wrath of God ; but when attempting 
to estimate the designs of Providence it may be seen that they 
were favourable to us ; for if we had then gained a victory 
over the Swedes, who were so well trained in the arts of war 
and politics, into what an abyss of prosperity might it not have 
dragged us afterwards ? On the other hand, this prosperity of 
the Swedes cost them very dear at Poltava, although they had 
such skill and reputation that the French used to call them the 
scourge of the Germans. We, after this terrible check, which 
was a true piece of good luck for us, were obliged to redouble 
JV^UF^T^l. /zoo. 




I 1 SwecLes 

lg rZ. , , 



our activity, and to make every effort to compensate by 
watchfulness for the want of experience ; and it was thus that 
the war was continued." There would seem to be consider- 
able doubt as to the number of troops engaged at this famous 
battle. Peter says : " And thus there perished of our men 
from 5800 to 6000 in the siege, the trenches, the battlefield, 
and the river Narva." The irregular cavalry lost some men in 
fording the river. According to this statement of Peter, the 
Russian troops who reached Novgorod from Narva amounted 
to 22,967. The historians of the time, however, declare that 
the Tsar had before Narva an army of 80,000 men, and they 
make his loss amount to 10,000 at the least. According to 



1701] THE REIGN OF PETER 31 

Peter's journal, the Swedes had 18,000 men, but this is 
considered by many to be a gross exaggeration. 

Seeing that important sections of the army were allowed to 
leave the field of operations, we cannot wonder that the battle 
of Narva resulted in one of the most complete routs ever in- 
flicted on the Russians. They capitulated, but were allowed 
to carry off their arms, standards, and baggage ; the artillery 
being surrendered, with the exception of six guns. Besides 
those taken prisoners, the Russians lost 6000 men, and the 
Swedes 2000. 

Sheremetiev had been one of the earliest to bring Peter 
tidings of the disaster; however, when the first outbursts of 
wrath and vexation were over, he was justified by the Tsar. 
The latter departed to Moscow, and left Sheremetiev in com- 
mand of the armies in Novgorod and Pskov, which guarded 
the Russian frontier. As one result of this great victory, the 
Swedes were enabled to occupy both Warsaw and Cracow, as 
they had done once before in the preceding century. Peter, 
as we have said, has been roundly accused of cowardice in 
connection with this battle, and of deserting his men on the 
eve of the conflict. But he may well have been in perplexity 
with such difficulties besetting him on every side. Certainly, 
if we study his character carefully, he would seem to have been 
careless of his own life, rather than of a timid nature. The 
reader must judge for himself by the light of subsequent 
events. Be this as it may, we find Peter soon recovering his 
self-possession, carefully training himself and his army, and 
finally marching to victory. When he had strengthened his 
resources by fresh levies of troops, he arranged a new plan of 
campaign. Sheremetiev was ordered to defend Pskov, and to 
send Cossacks to devastate Livonia. The absence of the 
Swedish king in Courland, after the defeat of the Saxons on 
the Dvina, having left the province at Peter's mercy. Opera- 
tions were at once to be commenced against the Swedish 
troops, who had remained in Livonia, under the command of 
General Schlippenbach. 

Meanwhile Menshikov was employed in reorganising the 



32 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1701 

Russian military system, in providing artillery and military 
stores, and in putting the frontiers into a state of defence. 
This'gave Menshikov his opportunity, and he profited by it. 
The Tsar in his letters calls him by the familiar name of 
Aleksasha, his dear friend, his brother, the son of his heart, 
and uses other equally tender expressions. In fact, he and 
Sheremietiev were now the Emperor's chief friends and 
advisers. 

Sheremetiev was in command of three regiments, in whom, 
however, he could place but little confidence. Two of these 
regiments suffered defeat at the hands of the Swedes, but the 
third, which was led by Michael, the son of Sheremetiev, 
defeated them at Rapino on September 16th. Three standards 
and eighty prisoners were taken. Peter was much encouraged 
by this first success of the Russian arms, though he heard with 
dissatisfaction that Sheremetiev had halted on the expedition. 
The Swedes had deservedly so great a reputation as soldiers 
that it cannot be wondered at if the raw untrained Russian 
levies were overawed by them. The Tsar renewed his orders 
to Sheremetiev to go on devastating the Swedish territory. 
11 Do not have the impudence to refuse," wrote the Tsar, 
" and if you are still suffering from the fever caught at Narva, 
I can cure it. Go and carry out my orders." Sheremetiev, 
however, wanted soldiers and arms, and still hesitated. 
" Everything you want has been sent ; why do you delay 
and refuse to carry out my orders?" wrote the Tsar; "I am 
venturing myself not only into the claws but into the very 
jaws of the enemy, and yet I do not fear." At length — but 
not till the winter — Sheremetiev sallied forth from Pskov with 
Sooo cavalry, 5000 infantry, and 15 guns. On the 10th of 
January 1702 Schlippenbach with 7000 Swedes was defeated 
in a regular battle at Ehrestfer, near Dorpat. Of the Swedes 
3000 were killed, so obstinately did they fight : 550 were taken 
prisoners; 4 guns and 8 flags were captured. Sheremetiev 
burnt the suburbs of Dorpat, sent out his troops to devastate 
the surrounding country, and returned in the spring to Pskov. 
The joy of Peter at this success knew no bounds. " We beat 



1702] THE REIGN OF PETER 33 

the Swedes," he said, "because we have just double the 
number of soldiers, but we will learn to beat them with 
equal numbers." The reward of the commander was the 
rank of field-marshal. The Tsar ordered him to bring the 
Swedish prisoners and the trophies to Moscow. Sheremetiev 
entered the capital in triumph amid universal rejoicings, and 
finally received the order of St Andrew. 

Having made arrangements for a fresh campaign on 
a large scale for the year 1702, the Tsar again ordered 
Sheremetiev to commence operations. He once more 
invaded Livonia, and destroyed the Swedish flotilla on 
Lake Peipus, obtaining possession of Sirensk. With 30,000 
men, Sheremetiev attacked Schlippenbach who had only 
7000. and was posted near Hummelsdorf. On the 29th 
the Swedes were again beaten, and lost 15 guns and 16 
standards. The whole Swedish army was now scattered. 
Russian troops scoured the country in every direction ; they 
took Menzen, and compelled the strong fortress of Marienburg 
to surrender. Because the Swedes had not observed the con- 
ditions imposed, the town was given over to plunder. In the 
same way were treated Wenden, Wolmar, Helmet, Karkus, and 
Wesenberg. One cannot but shudder to think of the fate of the 
peasants on these occasions ; men of what are called inferior 
races — Finns and Letts — bandied about from conqueror to 
conqueror, but upon whom the real terrors of war rested far 
more heavily than upon the two heroes who were continuing 
to fight their duel. Everywhere might be seen the traces of 
conflagrations. Thousands of the inhabitants, we are told, 
were taken captive to Russia. For centuries these miserable 
people had suffered, as we know from the gloomy records of 
the times of Ivan IV. We have only to read the quaint 
memoirs of Prince Kurbski — one of the most interesting 
literary monuments of that century — to get a dreary cata- 
logue of massacres. We only hear of them because Kurbski 
is upbraiding his former master for his cruelties. The 
Swedes were now so disheartened that it was no easy 
matter to force them to a battle. One was at length 
c 



34 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1703 

fought almost under the walls of Riga. " Boris Petrovich," 
said Peter, "has had a good time of it in Livonia. He has 
taken two considerable cities and seven small ones, and 
also 12,000 prisoners." 

Sheremetiev's report after the surrender of Marienburg was 
to the effect that the Russians had plundered the environs 
of the city, had burnt 600 villages, and driven off 20,000 
head of cattle. They consumed all the provisions they could, 
and what they could not carry away they destroyed. The 
miserable serfs, although owned by German masters, were 
quite as badly treated as the Polish peasants were. 

The booty of the Russians, we are told, was so great, that 
the troops of Sheremetiev did not cost the country more than 
40,000 roubles. This is the Napoleonic principle of making 
war self-supporting carried to extremes. It was at Marien- 
burg that Martha Skavronskaya was found, the singular woman, 
whom the great Peter afterwards made his wife. She is 
variously said by some authorities to have been the widow of 
a Swedish officer, by others of a private soldier, and had been 
brought up by Gliick, a Protestant pastor. The Tsar after- 
wards met her at the house of Menshikov. In this way, while 
Charles XII. was fighting in Poland, the Russians drove the 
Swedes out of the Baltic provinces. 

Sheremetiev, who had returned to Pskov on 21st September, 
was now ordered by the Tsar to join him at Noteburg, whither 
the latter had gone from Archangel. This he did on 4th 
October, and Noteburg was occupied the same year. The 
island of Noteburg is situated on Lake Ladoga, out of which 
the Neva flows. It had originally been Slavonic, and had 
been taken by the Swedes. Peter changed the name of the 
place to Schliisselburg, as being the key to the Neva, and 
this name it has kept to the present day. After the 
taking of Noteburg Sheremetiev spent the winter at Pskov, 
and in the spring of the year 1 703 again moved towards the 
Neva. 

During his absence at Archangel Peter had left the manage- 
ment of affairs to Menshikov. The latter distinguished himself 



1703] THE REIGN OF PETER 35 

at Noteburg, and was accordingly appointed commandant of 
that important post. When Menshikov appeared to tender his 
thanks, " You have no reason to thank me," said the Tsar ; " it 
is a matter of public expediency. It was not my friendship 
for you that guided me in the choice ; and if any other 
person had been more worthy than you, I would have chosen 
him." 

Menshikov's career of promotion, however, may be dated 
from that time. Peter expressed great satisfaction with what 
his favourite had done, and the careful preparations he had 
made for the campaign of the ensuing year ■ and in the year 
1703 he asked the German Emperor to give his friend the 
title of count. Menshikov led the Preobrazhenski regiment 
at Nienshantz, and in the naval engagement on the Neva 
(May 19) he commanded a division of boats. Peter was 
present in person, and himself captured some Swedish ships. 
In consequence of this victory Admiral Golovin and Field- 
Marshal Sheremetiev bestowed on the Tsar and Menshikov 
the order of St Andrew. This was the first naval engagement 
between Russia and Sweden. 

Another of Peter's best generals who calls for mention was 
Prince Michael Golitsin. He was born of boyar parents at 
Moscow in 1675. He had been enrolled among the troops 
which Peter had trained when a youth, and when only twelve 
years of age had joined the Semeonovski regiment. He had 
also been with the Tsar before Azov, and in 1702 contributed 
conspicuously to the taking of Noteburg. He had also been 
present at the disastrous battle of Narva in 1700. For his 
bravery at Noteburg he was made major-general. 

Having returned to Pskov, Sheremetiev obtained posses- 
sion of Koperie and Yamburg, and went to Narva. There 
he renewed the terrible devastation which he had formerly 
committed in the Swedish territory. In the winter he was 
summoned by the Tsar to the grand festival at Moscow, and 
took part with the other heroes in a triumphal entry into the 
capital. In the following spring Peter ordered him to forth- 
with lay siege to Dorpat. Now, however, Sheremetiev ventured 



36 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1704 

to question the orders of his imperial master. Peter told him 
to begin at once, while he himself was superintending the siege 
of Xarva. " Do not be making any contradictory remarks, 
or asking for any explanations. Carry out what I tell you, 
or you will be in the wrong." So wrote the Tsar. Sheremetiev 
accordingly set out from Pskov with 20,000 men, and took 
possession of the Swedish flotilla on Lake Peipus. He 
then began the siege of Dorpat on the 17th of June. The 
impatient Tsar, however, once more grew dissatisfied with the 
protracted siege, and came in person from the camp at Xarva. 
"I found nothing going on here," wrote Peter; "they have 
thrown 2000 bombs into the city to no purpose." Dorpat 
eventually surrendered after the assault of July 24th. It had 
formerly belonged to the republic of Novgorod. The name 
Dorpat or Derpt is Lettish. The city has in our own days 
resumed its ancient name of Yuriev. 

Some time previously Peter had appointed Menshikov the 
governor-general of the city of St Petersburg, which was now 
rising amid the Finnish marshes. Menshikov had been with 
the Tsar when he laid the foundations of the fortress of 
Petropavlovski, and was now occupied with the building 
and settlement of the new city destined to be the capital 
of Russia. One of the bastions of the fortress of St Peters- 
burg was named after him. The building of the fortress of 
Kronshlot, to which provisions were brought across the 
frozen Gulf of Finland, together with the protection of St 
Petersburg from the Finns, kept Menshikov fully occupied. 
Peter seemed hardly to know how to show him sufficient 
gratitude, being greatly delighted with his paradise, as he 
called St Petersburg. In 1704 Menshikov showed con- 
spicuous bravery at the siege of Narva and Dorpat, and was in 
consequence promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. Peter 
also rewarded him with money and estates, and addressed a 
further request to the German Emperor that his favourite 
should be made a prince. The Polish king, too, sent 
Menshikov the White Eagle, and made him commander of 
one of his Saxon regiments. When eventually he was 



1705] THE REIGN OF PETER 37 

appointed governor-general of Ingria Menshikov took his 
place among the ranks of the highest Russian nobles, and 
appeared as the Tsar's plenipotentiary. Although Peter 
lived himself in a modest house, he built a large one for 
Menshikov on the Vasilievski Ostrov, where now stands the 
building occupied by the first Cadet Corps. Here the recep- 
tions took place, and audience was given to ambassadors ; 
here foreigners were magnificently entertained, victories 
were feted, and many noisy festivities held. Numerous 
stories of the great drinking bouts have been told by those 
who visited the palace of Menshikov, which was resplendent 
with silver, gold, and rich furniture. He who had first 
attracted the notice of his master in such a humble 
capacity, thus came to be one of the foremost men in 
Russia. 

Sheremetiev meanwhile had moved his troops to Narva, 
and had his share in the taking of that memorable 
city, for the Russians had now wiped out their former 
disgrace. 

In the year 1705 Peter entered upon his personal struggle 
with Charles XII., and moved his forces into Poland. Shere- 
metiev was awaiting the Tsar in Polotsk. Peter ordered 
him to move into Courland. The Russians now entered 
Mittau, but retreated on hearing that the Swedish general 
Lowenhaupt was hastening to its relief from Riga with 
8000 men. Sheremetiev encountered him on the 27th of 
July at Gemauerthof, and in spite of the superiority of 
his numbers (there were more than 11,000 Russians and 
Poles included), he suffered defeat, and retired in disorder. 
The Russian generals were not yet a match for the Swedes. 
Peter, however, took these disasters as valuable lessons. " Do 
not despair," wrote the Tsar to his defeated general, " a success 
every day is ruinous to any man." Such an attitude serves 
well to emphasise the opposite natures of Peter and Charles : 
the former was prudent, and was engaged in forming a well- 
consolidated empire; the latter was reckless, and was en- 
gaged in destroying one. Sheremetiev hastened to get further 



38 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1706 

supplies from Wilno ; Lowenhaupt retired into Riga. The 
Russians, with Mittau, occupied Courland, and approached 
Grodno and Tikochino. 

An insurrection of the Streltsi in Astrakhan was now 
greatly disturbing Peter. Sheremetiev was despatched with 
full powers. After having tried in vain to get the rebels 
to submit, since he had no more than 3000 troops against 
10,000 mutineers, Sheremetiev defeated the bands of the 
Streltsi near Astrakhan (March 24, 1706). Having quelled 
the mutiny, more by mercy, however, than by severity, he 
made his appearance before the Tsar at Kiev, where the 
latter was awaiting the invasion of the Swedes. Peter esteemed 
the services of Sheremetiev at their proper value. " God will 
repay you, and we will not forget what you have done." It 
was thus he had written to him when he was at Astrakhan. 
On his arrival at Kiev Sheremetiev was made a count of the 
Russian Empire, being the first to receive that title. The 
form graf was adopted into Russian directly from the German. 
Indeed, there is no title in Russia of direct Slavonic origin. 
The only genuine Slavonic dignity which has come down is 
zupnik, from zupa, a division of the country. This is used 
in Serbian and Slovenish, but has never obtained a footing in 
Russian. In those countries it is used to signify a parish 
priest. As regards the word boyar, the best etymology, and 
that favoured by Miklosich, is from a Tatar word. Tsar is 
of course Caesar, and kral, king (Russian, korol), has been 
derived from the name of Charlemagne (Karl), the great 
king with whom the Slavs came into contact. From the time 
of Peter the Great the word boyar ceases to be used in Russia. 
Even the word Kniaz, Prince, which is sometimes translated 
Duke, as Veliki Kniaz, Grand Duke, is really the old high 
German Kunings. 

Charles XII. deferred his invasion of Russia, and moved 
his army into Poland. Under the leadership of the Tsar 
the Russians followed in pursuit. Soon, however, Peter 
departed, and Menshikov was left in command. Meantime 
Sheremetiev was covering him with the chief army in 



1706] THE REIGN OF PETER 39 

Lithuania and on the Volin. The Swedish king is said 
to have succeeded in shutting the Russians up in Grodno 
in consequence of the adoption of the plans of Ogleby, 
another of Peter's Scotch generals. Menshikov left his 
force and met the Tsar, who had hurried from Moscow, 
at Pinsk, and explained in detail the position of affairs. 
He then suggested some skilful manoeuvres by which the 
army was eventually saved. After this he was made 
commander-in-chief of the cavalry, and when Ogleby was 
removed, the command of the whole army was divided 
between him and Sheremetiev. In the autumn of 1707 
Charles turned from Poland to Russia. The Tsar had the 
army of Sheremetiev moved to Minsk, and went himself 
to St Petersburg. At this time Augustus II., who was 
supported by Peter, and was a thoroughly worthless king, 
was secretly making overtures of peace to Charles, who had 
been the great supporter of his rival Stanislaus Leszczynski. 
Menshikov, however, proved of great service to his master 
in watching Augustus carefully, and virtually keeping him 
a prisoner. On October 30th, 1706, Menshikov fell on the 
troops of the Swedes at Kalisch, and completely defeated 
them 5 5000 of the enemy were killed ; 142 officers and 
2500 soldiers were taken prisoners. The commander of the 
Swedes himself, General Mardefeldt, with 3 guns and 25 
standards, were the trophies of the victors. The Tsar thanked 
his favourite for a brilliant success such as the Russian arms 
had never till then been able to boast. Menshikov was made 
a colonel of the Guards, and the baton of a field-marshal, 
set with brilliants, was his reward. He was now at the 
very height of his fortunes. Few careers in history have 
been more worthy of attention, or exhibited more striking 
alternations. 

Charles XII. thought to deceive the watchfulness of the 
Tsar by a decisive blow in the winter. He marched 
rapidly into Lithuania. Peter now quitted Grodno, and 
retreated into his own country. Some generals counselled 
him to fight on the Russian frontier, but he followed the 



40 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1706 

advice of Sheremetiev in the council of war which was 
held. 

Here we must pause for a moment to speak of the treaty 
of Altranstadt (1706). Charles had really carried everything 
before him in Poland. He had forced Augustus to sign this 
treaty. At this time, there seemed great probability of an 
alliance being formed between France and Sweden, as the 
former was looking for an ally after the humiliation she had 
recently undergone at the hands of Marlborough. By the 
treaty of Altranstadt Charles XII. compelled Augustus to 
surrender Patkul to him. How far Augustus was unwilling 
to give up the refugee is uncertain. The unfortunate Livonian 
was dragged about to different places by Charles, and finally 
broken on the wheel at Casimir (Kazmierz). A terrible 
account of his execution has been left by Lorens Hager the 
Protestant clergyman, who attended him on the scaffold. It 
is said that Charles wrote out with his own hand the minute 
orders for his punishment, and was very angry with the 
Swedish officer present at the execution, for causing the 
agonies of Patkul to be too quickly brought to an end by 
decapitation. Charles really remained six years in Poland 
and had reduced Augustus to the position of a mere vassal, 
but his conduct in doing so was hardly politic, since he 
thereby left his rival with a free hand in the Baltic 
provinces. 

Charles now resolved to commence his invasion of Russia, 
and broke up his camp at Radoszkovice near Grodno. In 
their pursuit of the Russians, the Swedes reached Smorgony 
and there halted. The Tsar, drawn away by state affairs, 
again left the army. Sheremetiev, however, continued the 
plan of Peter when warlike operations were renewed in the 
month of May. The daring and experience of Charles con- 
fused Sheremetiev and Menshikov who were no match for so 
skilful a tactician. 

The Swedes were victorious in the battle of Golovchino 
(July 14) although Sheremetiev managed to retreat in good 
order. The policy of both generals was to continually 



1708] THE REIGN OF PETER 41 

devastate the country before the advancing host. When 
Lowenhaupt the Swedish general came out of Riga, the Tsar 
took the command himself leaving Sheremetiev to follow 
Charles into Malorussia, and to cut off his supplies. Charles 
now crossed the Berezina, afterwards destined to play so 
important a part in the wars of Napoleon, and had his 
first encounter with the Russians at Dobroe, south of 
Smolensk. Menshikov had this year been created a 
prince, with the title of Izhorski (the place from which he 
took his name Izhora) and most illustrious Svietlieshi. He 
was also appointed actual privy councillor. Menshikov was 
kept actively employed in several small engagements during 
the winter of 1708-9; and was left with Sheremetiev to 
operate in various districts when Peter was absent. Here 
he was not always successful. Mazeppa, the hetman of the 
Ukraine was according to the plans arranged by the Russians 
to have joined them, but in reality he had been negotiating 
with Charles, and he now wasted a great deal of time in 
indecision. He had long been hesitating to which side he 
should attach himself, and only after a considerable interval 
joined Charles, when his nephew Voinarovski had brought 
him gloomy accounts of the treatment which the Cossacks 
might look to receive at the hands of Peter. 

Up to that time Mazeppa had affected to be in sympathy 
with the Tsar : he had joined him at the siege of Azov : 
and had sent Cossack regiments to Volhynia and Lithuania 
to assist Augustus of Poland : he had even lavishly con- 
tributed funds in support of his cause : and Peter was so 
convinced of his devotion that he handed over Kochubei and 
Iskra, two enemies of Mazeppa to be punished by him. They 
were both executed. Mazeppa, although now an elderly man, 
was enamoured of the daughter of Kochubei, and readers of 
Russian poetry will remember how Pushkin has interwoven 
this story with his spirited narrative and description of the 
battle of Poltava. The secret agreement between Stanislaus, 
the rival of Augustus, and Mazeppa was that on the entry 
of Charles into Russian territory all the Cossack regiments 



42 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1708 

should join him and should thenceforth remain tributary to 
Poland ; he himself was to receive Vitebsk and Polotsk, in 
which the Duke of Courland was to transfer to him all his 
rights. Peter, who knew nothing of this conspiracy, concluded 
that Charles would attack him from Livonia. He therefore 
concentrated all his forces on the banks of the Dwina, and 
in compliance with the views of the council of war which he 
convened, decided to adopt a strictly defensive attitude. He 
determined not to be drawn into a decisive engagement with 
the enemy ; he knew very well that his soldiers could not 
cope with the tried veterans of Charles. His tactics were 
very similar to those pursued towards the invaders who 
entered the country a little more than a hundred years later. 
He resolved to build a chain of fortresses in order to obstruct 
the enemy's marches ; to prevent his passage of the rivers ; 
to devastate the territory which he must traverse so as to 
prevent his getting supplies ; and further, to harass him by 
a series of petty battles. With this view he ordered a line 
of ditches and ramparts to be constructed from Pskov to 
Briansk ; he strengthened the fortifications of Smolensk, 
Pskov, Novgorod and even Moscow, and ordered the 
villagers on the first approach of the enemy to destroy all 
the crops and betake themselves to the fortresses. Mean- 
while he enlisted as soldiers all the available men of the 
country. It was, in fact, a levee en masse. Three routes 
lay open to Charles ; through Novgorod, Smolensk and the 
Ukraine. If he chose the first route, he could unite with 
his generals Lowenhaupt and Lubecker, and thus act with his 
whole force. But in that case he must first take Novgorod, 
and traverse a region of forests and barren soil, where the 
Russians would be able to hamper him at every step. The 
second route by Smolensk was also unsuitable because it would 
not permit of his co-operating with Lowenhaupt ; the third 
route separated him even further from the corps stationed in 
Livonia and Finland ; but this disadvantage was more than 
compensated by his being able to rely upon the assistance 
of Mazeppa and by the rising in Malorussia and in the region 



1709] THE REIGN OF PETER 43 

of the Don. Aid, too, had been promised by the Khan of 
the Crimea; perriaps even support might be coming from 
the Sultan of Turkey who was being urged by the Swedish 
king to declare war against the Russians. 

Mazeppa had accumulated large stores in the Ukraine, and 
in this way the Swedish army could march straight to Moscow 
through a district where grain could be had in abundance, 
and which was far more fitted for aggressive than defensive 
warfare. 

Charles accordingly chose the route through the Ukraine, 
a fertile part of the country, from motives similar to those 
which afterwards influenced Napoleon who hoped to effect 
his retirement from Russia by it, had his route not been 
diverted by the all-important battle of Maloyaroslavets. He 
was able to conceal his plans with great skill, so that Peter 
for a long time could form no idea as to the direction in 
which he might expect his appearance. Not to be persuaded 
by Menshikov that Charles would endeavour to enter the 
country by Little Russia, Peter had concentrated all his 
forces in the neighbourhood of Smolensk and therefore could 
not prevent the passage of the Swedes over the Druch at 
Golovchino or over the Dnieper at Mohilev. The king 
easily defeated the separated corps of the Russian army, and 
entered the Sieverski district. Here also had been the 
basis of operations of the False Demetrius when he entered 
Russia. 

At length, however, the direction which the invader was 
taking became evident. Peter at once changed his plans; 
he moved up his soldiers, came on the flank of the enemy 
and marched parallel with him, harassing him on all sides, 
and cutting off stragglers especially at Dobroe. So completely 
were the neighbouring towns and villages burnt, that Charles 
only found uninhabitable ruins awaiting him. The weather 
was severe, and in his apprehension that his army would 
perish from hunger, he sent orders to Lowenhaupt who 
had come from Livonia with great quantities of provisions 
and military stores, to join the main army as soon as possible. 



44 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1709 

The Russian generals, having learnt this, determined to send 
some regiments to intercept Lowenhaupt. The guide, a Jew, 
who had been bribed by the Swedes, conducted them to 
Smolensk, assuring them that they would meet the enemy 
there; while Lowenhaupt, following another route, was already 
in the neighbourhood of Mohilev, a few days' journey from the 
Swedish army. Fortunately, the Tsar discovered his mistake in 
time, and changing his route overtook the Swedish general not 
far from Proprisk at the village of Liesnoe on the river Sozh. 
There he forced him to fight, and in spite of the superiority 
of their numbers and the desperate bravery of the Swedes, 
completely defeated them (Oct. 10, 1708). Lowenhaupt lost 
more than half his men with all his baggage, and when he 
appeared in the camp of the king it was as a fugitive. 

The consequences of this battle were very important for 
both sides. The Russians remembered the defeat of Shere- 
metiev at Gemauersthof, and considered Lowenhaupt the best 
general whom Charles could boast. Peter, having shown 
them that it was possible to beat him and that with inferior 
numbers, inspired his troops with confidence both in their 
own powers and in the ability of their leaders. Thus he 
continued to educate his troops and create an empire ; while 
the hot-brained Charles was daily leading Sweden to her 
downfall. Sheremetiev rejoiced more than anyone : he 
thanked the Tsar by letter for his victory which had avenged 
the unsuccessful reconnaissance at Gemauersthof. Charles 
was now deprived of a considerable portion of his forces 
and of all his military stores and the supplies which were 
now so necessary for his exhausted army. Hunger and 
disease had by this time reduced the Swedish army to 
18,000 men. 

Charles, however, still had hopes of releasing himself from 
his difficult position by reaching Malorussia, where Mazeppa 
had promised that all the Cossack regiments would join him, 
and where he would find ample stores accumulated in 
Baturin, Romna, Gudiach and other towns. But in this 
expectation he was again egregiously deceived. The hetman 



1709] THE REIGN OF PETER 45 

succeeded in effecting a junction with him on the banks of the 
Desna, but with only an insignificant section of his retainers, 
together with some thousand Cossacks, who had been brought 
by treachery into the Swedish camp. Charles certainly did 
not find in Malorussia what he had hoped for; instead of a 
hearty welcome and magazines full of stores, he met with 
fortresses obstinately defended, and with half-burnt towns 
and villages. The Cossacks showed but little sympathy with 
Mazeppa, and this contributed to the Tsar's success quite as 
much as the excellent measures he had himself taken. He 
received news of the defection of Mazeppa on November 7, 
1708, and immediately sent Menshikov into Little Russia to 
counteract the plans of the traitor before the king could make 
his appearance. Mazeppa had himself made overtures by 
which Peter would probably have been again misled. The 
Cossack hetman was playing a similar part to that played by 
Lord Lovat in the rebellion of 1745. But about this time 
the Tsar accidentally intercepted a letter addressed by 
Mazeppa to Stanislaus Leszczynski, who had been put 
forward as a rival king to Augustus II. The fate of the 
conspirator was thus sealed. 

Menshikov swiftly and skilfully carried out his master's 
orders. He met with but little resistance anywhere except 
in Baturin, the capital of the Cossacks which was occupied 
by Chechela and Konigseck, the hetman's confederates. He 
carried the town by assault on November 15, razed it to the 
ground and captured the chief rebels. He thus got posses- 
sion of Mazeppa's treasures, his artillery and stores. He also 
demolished the Setch, as the fortifications of the Cossack 
republic were called, and thus deprived the Swedes of all 
chance of re victualling. The blow inflicted was very opportune, 
and inspired with terror the secret confederates of Mazeppa, 
in the various districts. On the other hand those who had 
begun to waver in their inclinations towards Russia were 
confirmed in their fidelity. There was no chance now of a 
general rising of the Cossacks. It was no longer a kind of 
national movement but the hostility of a few individual chiefs. 



46 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1709 

The Cossacks whom Mazeppa had tried to lead into the 
Swedish camp deserted, and Malorussia met Charles in a 
hostile spirit. Everywhere in the Sieverski district he found 
ruined villages. Everywhere Menshikov displayed the greatest 
activity. Peter proceeded to depose Mazeppa from the 
hetmanship and caused Skoropadski to be elected in his 
place. The traitor was also solemnly excommunicated by 
the Metropolitan of Kiev. 

The winter of 1708 now came on and proved to be one 
of unusual severity : and here again the fortunes of Charles 
afford an exact parallel to those of Napoleon. Ustrialov, the 
Russian historian, even says that birds were frozen on the 
wing. The Swedes suffered severely, but Charles always 
shared the privations of his men. There was more than 
truth in Dr Johnson's well-known line : 

" And winter barricades the realms of frost," 

but the mad king kept on with his expedition. The only 
chance for him now would have been to retreat into 
Poland. He was still eager however to force his way to 
Moscow. 

The Tsar had remained the whole winter with his army. 
When he set out for Voronezhe and Azov in the spring of 
the year 1709 he again entrusted the command to Shere- 
metiev and Menshikov. Disagreements however among 
the Russian commanders disturbed the plan of campaign 
which had been mapped out by Peter. Charles was now 
approaching the Vorskla. Sheremetiev and Menshikov 
incautiously divided their forces. The Tsar heard of this 
and, foreseeing how fraught with danger such a disposition 
would be for the Russian army, wrote ordering them to 
unite as soon as possible. On the route of Charles lay 
the town of Poltava, a place which till then had been so 
obscure that there is considerable difficulty in ascertaining 
the early spelling of the name. It is situated on the river 
Vorskla, and was held by a strong garrison under the com- 
mand of Colonel Kellin. Charles anticipated no difficulty 



1709] THE REIGN OF PETER 47 

in capturing the town, but Kellin showed no sign of sur- 
rendering. Th Swedish king had not been accustomed to 
meet with obstacles, and proposed to himself to take the 
place forthwith. He, moreover, disposed his troops under 
the walls of Poltava the more willingly, because he hoped 
to draw Peter into an engagement and to wait till the 
negotiations into which he had entered with the Turks 
earlier in the year should be concluded. In reality the 
Sultan who had been approached by the Swedish agents, 
wished to have a rupture with Russia, and the Khan of 
the Crimea towards whom he stood in the relation of 
suzerain, had already commenced hostile measures. Peter, 
however, acted with his customary decision and genius ; he 
collected a powerful flotilla at Voronezh. All the winter 
he had busied himself with ship-building, and as soon as 
the river was navigable he sailed down the Don to Taganrog 
and showed himself in the sea of Azov. This had a quieting 
effect upon the Sultan who no longer evinced any desire to 
interfere in the war and forbade the Khan to do so. 

Meanwhile Poltava had not surrendered, and Kellin con- 
tinued to repulse the attacks of the Swedes. Occasionally 
the bombs of the enemy gave rise to fires in the town, the 
soldiers would then rush up to the walls and plant the 
Swedish flag. Kellin, commissioning the women and old 
men to quench the flames, proceeded himself to the en- 
counter, beat off the Swedes from the fortifications, and 
by lucky sorties threw the enemy's camp into disorder, 
capturing guns and taking prisoners. Menshikov had by 
this time arrived on the scene. The forces of the Tsar, 
stationed not far from Poltava on the other bank of the 
Vorskla, supported the brave garrison. Menshikov con- 
tinued to introduce supplies into the town which was now 
beginning to suffer. The siege lasted two months, during 
which time Charles was more and more exhausting his 
forces. Menshikov sent to urge the Tsar to come as 
speedily as he could. Meanwhile, in conjunction with 
Sheremetiev, he had successfully carried out the designs 



48 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1709 

of Peter during the latter's absence. Peter now left Azov 
and hastened across the steppes of the Don. He was 
present at the scene of action on June 18th. The lessons 
taught him by his former battles with the Swedes had not 
been thrown away, and he now had a more efficient army 
in place of the raw untrained men who had been so easily 
defeated at Narva. 

Having weakened his army by so many futile attacks, 
Charles was anxious to have the matter decided. He had 
received a wound in his foot and could neither walk nor 
ride but had to be carried about in a kind of litter. Peter 
began cautiously and approached the place gradually under 
cover of earthworks ; but, on learning that the besieged 
could hold out no longer, he resolved to risk a battle on 
July 7th. The two hosts were led by their respective 
sovereigns : it was a veritable duel, and the first to fire 
was Charles. Sitting in his litter and surrounded by his 
guards he took his soldiers straight against the redoubts, 
built in front of the Russian camp. The Swedes rushed 
up to the very trenches, but were met with such a terrific 
cannonade that the men fled for shelter into a wood which 
lay in front of the Russian camp, and not without difficulty 
re-formed there in something approaching order. In the 
midst of this panic, the right wing under the command of 
Ross became separated from the rest of the army and was 
cut to pieces by Menshikov. Meanwhile, the Tsar brought 
his main body into action from the trenches, and moved 
them skilfully on the enemy. Going round the regiments 
he told the soldiers that the time had come which was to 
decide the fate of Russia, that they were fighting not for 
Peter but for the empire entrusted to Peter, for their 
families, their country and the Holy Orthodox Faith, that 
they must not allow themselves to be daunted by the sup- 
posed invincibility of the enemy. The engagement then 
began. Peter attacked the army of the invaders on both 
flanks, and at the end of two hours had gained a complete 
victory. During the stampede which ensued, Charles fell 



1709] 



THE REIGN OF PETER 



49 



several times from the litter. Those who succeeded in 
escaping made for Turkish territory, but prisoners to the 
number of 2800 were taken including the principal Swedish 
officers and Count Piper, the king's minister. Sheremetiev 
had displayed conspicuous bravery during the engagement, 
and as a reward had two estates given to him by Peter at 
the feast which followed the battle. Menshikov who had not 
been uniformly successful in the smaller engagements during 
the absence of Peter, atoned for all former errors by 
his brilliant command of the cavalry. Two horses were 

Z>OZ,T-AJZA. . 1709. 




vLss~^ccn& 






ft / :F M — 

i=.h ' ^ 



killed under him at the redoubts ; how he cut off a regiment 
of Swedes has been already told; a third horse was killed 
under him in the final engagement. He was immediately 
after the battle raised to the rank of field-marshal by the 
grateful Tsar. The Guards at the battle of Poltava were 
commanded by Golitsin. After the battle Peter entertained 
the highest Swedish officers among the prisoners and thanked 
them for the instructions he had received at their hands in 
the art of war. Of the rank and file of the captives many were 
sent to Siberia, whence the majority never returned to their 
native country. A valuable work on Russia, and Siberia in 
particular, was written by one of them named Strahlenberg. 

D 



50 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1709 

Peter at Poltava displayed the most reckless courage, which 
fact should have been sufficient to dispose of all theories of 
cowardice at Narva. He is recorded to have been every- 
where during the engagement, generally in the front of the 
battle, and while thus exposing himself, received a bullet in his 
hat which is still preserved in the Museum of the Hermitage. 
No man realised more thoroughly the great importance of 
Poltava. A letter of his is still preserved, written from the 
field of battle on the nth of July, at nine in the evening, to 
his favourite minister and high admiral, Feodore Matveich 
Apraksin. In it the Tsar, after telling in a few words of the 
complete victory he had just gained and the entire rout of the 
Swedish army, winds up by saying: "I think we shall now 
remain masters of St Petersburg and its dependencies." Nor 
was Charles behind Peter in his contempt of death. In the 
retreat he was lifted on to a favourite old horse Brander, 
and with a handful of attendants made his way to Turkish 
soil. Besides Count Piper he had also left Field Marshal 
Rennskjold in the hands of the Russians. The Swedish 
army now ceased to exist as a hostile force. Half of it had 
fallen on the field of Poltava ; the other half in its flight had 
hoped to reach the Crimea but surrendered to Menshikov 
and Golitsin at Perevolochna on the banks of the Dnieper. 
Some other fugitives, and among them Charles himself, set 
off for the river Bug but were overtaken by the Russians who 
killed some and took others prisoners, Charles escaping with 
great difficulty. He crossed the Bug with Mazeppa hoping 
to find a place of refuge in the Turkish dominions. All his 
stores and artillery were in the hands of the conqueror. His 
career as a victor was at an end ; and for the next five years 
he was to be a hostage at the court of the Turkish Sultan, 
where he had some strange adventures. He could not 
consider himself safe until he had reached Bender, then in 
Turkey, but now in the Russian government of Bessarabia. 
Here Mazeppa died after a chequered career on March 31st, 
17 10, and was buried at Galatz in Roumania also at that time 
Turkish territory. 



1709] THE REIGN OF PETER 51 

The rejoicings throughout Russia were great, and the 
generals were loaded with honours. The letter which Peter 
wrote to Catherine and which is still preserved among the 
St Petersburg archives, may be compared with that which 
Sobieski wrote to his wife on the defeat of the Turks before 
Vienna : " Good morning, Mamma, I write to tell you that 
God all merciful has been so good as to give me an inde- 
scribable victory over the enemy. To tell you briefly — all 
the forces of the enemy have been completely beaten, and 
you yourself shall hear about it from us \ and pray come here 
in person to congratulate me. — Peter." He signs his name 
in Dutch form in Latin letters as he frequently did when in 
a humorous mood. 

The battle of Poltava has always been reckoned one of the 
decisive battles of the world. It signified two things : first, 
the fall of Sweden from her purely accidental position as the 
leading power in Northern Europe, which she owed entirely 
to the genius of Gustavus Adolphus ; and secondly, the 
assumption of that place by Russia. Up to this time Peter 
had been regarded by the other Europeans with mingled 
feelings of astonishment and contempt ; now, however, there 
manifested itself a universal inclination to court him, especi- 
ally shown among the petty German potentates. But not 
only did Peter thus establish his position towards the other 
European powers, he also by this brilliant victory, so gratify- 
ing to Russian pride, reconciled his own subjects to the 
many reforms which had been introduced and the high- 
handed manner in which they had been carried out. At 
the beginning of his reign he was not without moments of 
peril at the hands of the Streltsi who met with a large amount 
of support among the clergy and represented a faction which 
had never been entirely suppressed. The course of Peter's 
action had been throughout in direct opposition to the pre- 
judices of his countrymen, and now the disaffected ones began 
to group themselves round his divorced wife and rebellious son. 
It is easy to understand that they fancied, as we read in the 
contemporary bilini> that there was only a spurious Peter who 



52 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [mo 

was ruling over them and that the real orthodox Russian 
Tsar had been spirited away to Stegoln (Stockholm) and was 
kept prisoner there. Perry the English engineer employed by 
Peter tells that papers were found about the streets threaten- 
ing his assassination. 

The immediate effect, however, of the victory of Poltava 
was that Peter received the homage of the neighbouring 
powers j all were ready to make friends with him. Augustus 
II. of Poland now declared the treaty of Altranstadt to be 
inoperative and thus some expiation was made to the manes 
of the unfortunate Patkul. He had met Peter at Thorn on 
ioth October 1709, and now hastened to conclude an offensive 
and defensive alliance with Russia against Sweden. Stanis- 
laus Leszczynski who had been nominated King of Poland 
by Charles, and would have made an excellent king, was 
compelled to leave that country, and took refuge with his 
protector at Bender. Peter did not forget the injuries which 
had been done him by the Cossacks, and proceeded to 
chastise them with great severity. In fact this was the last 
outbreak which they indulged in. Mazeppa would certainly 
have been put to death had he survived, and hence it has 
been conjectured that he committed suicide. It does not 
seem altogether improbable, and would have been a dramati- 
cally suitable ending to his career of passion and turbulence. 
In the curious memoirs of the Polish noble Pasek we get 
some strange stories about him. 

After Poltava, Sheremetiev led the Russian forces to 
Rieshetilovka and thence marched to Riga (July 7, 17 10). 
The Swedish garrison at Riga amounted to 12, coo men. In 
October, Sheremetiev began the blockade, and in November 
Peter, who had been journeying across the frontier, arrived in 
the camp of the besiegers, and opened the bombardment. 
On his departure Sheremetiev again changed the siege into a 
winter blockade, removed his superfluous troops to Courland, 
and went to Moscow to celebrate the military triumph of 
Poltava. The Tsar left to him the honour of the victory of 
Poltava only claiming for himself the credit of that at Liesnoe. 



1710] THE REIGN OF PETER 53 

Sheremetiev and Menshikov followed immediately behind 
the Tsar in the triumphal procession as generals of the 
Preobazhenski regiment. In the winter Sheremetiev returned 
to Riga, and at the beginning of December the bombardment 
was renewed and was continued till the whole Russian army 
had assembled. The city was now grievously hard pressed, 
suffering at once from sickness and the Russian shells, 
nevertheless it was not until the following July that Riga 
surrendered. Sheremetiev entered the city in- triumph and 
received the oath of allegiance from the citizens. The Tsar 
gave him the keys of Riga to keep as an heirloom and they 
are still preserved among the treasures of the Sheremetievs. 
These keys are of gold and weigh about three pounds, and 
bear the following inscription : Rigae devictae obsequium a 
supremo totius Russian campi prsefecto com. Boris Sheremeteff, 
Equite ordin. Malth., S. Apostol Andreae et alt. Anno Salutis 
MDCCX. die -|-| Julii. After the taking of Riga Sheremetiev 
led the Russian army into Volhynia. 

Soon after the battle of Poltava, the Danish king, Frederick 
IV., sent an ambassador to Peter, Just Juel, whose secretary 
has left us a very interesting account of his journey. The 
Tsar, we are told, received the ambassador in the most 
cordial manner, asking him to come and sit by him, and 
offering him a glass of wine with his own hand. This same 
writer has left us only too vivid a picture of some of the 
drinking bouts he witnessed at St Petersburg, for it was a 
hard drinking age. 

Prussia, Poland and Denmark were now eager for a close 
alliance with the conqueror. Before the end of 1709, Sweden 
found herself attacked on all sides, so foolish and head- 
strong had been the policy of Charles. The country would 
have been lost but for the energy of General Magnus 
Stenbock, who had gone to the Ukraine with the king, 
but in consequence of ill health had returned to Sweden, 
where he held the post of Governor of Skaania. He 
rapidly raised an army of 15,000 men, and succeeded in 
driving out the Danes who had invaded the country. The 



54 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1710 

Russians, however, occupied Livonia, Esthonia and part of 
Finland. 

The other European powers who were then engaged in 
the contest with Louis XIV., were rather perplexed by the 
new development which matters were taking. Louis XIV. 
at once conceived the idea of entering into an alliance with 
Peter. As yet there had been but little intercourse between 
the countries. We first hear of ambassadors from France 
in the time of the Tsar Michael, and in the reign of Alexis 
some Russians had been sent to France to negotiate, but 
matters had not yet been arranged on a friendly footing. 
From the records which have come down, we see that 
the Embassy was attended with difficulties. The Russian 
ambassador and his suite had what nearly amounted to a 
fight, when the French custom-house officers proceeded to 
examine their luggage. The ambassador, however, as we 
read in the account which he sent home, witnessed the 
performance of Moliere's Amphitryon, the chief part being 
played no doubt by the great comedian himself. Peter 
does not seem to have been willing to commit himself to 
any definite alliance; he had his own plans of securing a 
footing on the Baltic, and was not unwilling to see the 
European powers engaged in another direction, so that he 
might be free to carry out his designs. An interview took 
place at Marienwerder between Peter and Frederick of 
Prussia. The latter is said to have proposed the partition 
of Poland, as did another member of his house in the days 
of Catherine II. On this occasion a marriage was negotiated 
between Frederick William, the young Duke of Courland, 
the nephew of the Prussian king, and Anne, daughter of 
Peter's brother Ivan, who afterwards become Empress. This 
marriage had in many ways a political significance. In the 
year 17 10, an Embassy was sent by the Duke of Courland 
to Russia, and on the 22nd of July in that year a treaty was 
concluded, in which it was stipulated that the Tsarevna 
should have a church for herself and her Russian attendants 
according to the orthodox rite ; if she had any daughters 



1710] THE REIGN OF PETER 55 

they were to be of the same religion as their mother, but 
the sons were to be brought up as Lutherans, like their 
father. On the marriage taking place, Anne was to have 
200,000 roubles as a dowry, and if the Duke should die 
leaving no issue, his widow was to receive for her mainten- 
ance 400,000 roubles annually as well as a castle and estate 
for her residence during the rest of her life. In August of the 
same year, the bridegroom himself arrived in St Petersburg, 
accompanied by the Russian field-marshal Sheremetiev. The 
marriage took place on the nth of the following November 
at the residence of Prince Menshikov on the Vasilievski 
Ostrov. The rite was performed by the Archimandrite 
Theodosii Yanovski, who was metropolitan of Novgorod, and 
the concluding exhortation to the bridegroom pronounced 
in Latin. The marriage was made the occasion for a series 
of uproarious festivals, which illustrate somewhat luridly the 
state of civilization in the country. Two dwarfs on one 
occasion were seen to come out of a pie when it was cut, 
and the marriage of a dwarf took place on the 26th of 
November. It should be remembered that even in England 
dwarfs were kept at Court till well past the middle of the 
seventeenth century, and some German princelings even 
kept them as late as the time of Peter. 

The marriage of Anne was, however, to have a melancholy 
ending. Before the newly-married couple could reach Mittau, 
when indeed they were only 40 versts from St Petersburg at 
a country house named Duderhof, the Duke died suddenly 
from the effects, it was said, of the great quantity of spirituous 
liquor with which the hospitality of his royal relatives had 
entertained him. For political reasons, Peter wished that 
his widowed niece should continue to live on the Courland 
estates of the late Duke, and he even desired to send her 
mother Prascovia there with her daughter, but was eventually 
induced to give up the idea. 

From this time forward, Courland became more or less a 
dependency of Russia. The adventurer Biren or Biihren, a 
favourite of Anne's, was afterwards made Duke, and in the 



56 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [mo 

time of Catherine II. the inhabitants voluntarily put them- 
selves under Russian protection. 

But a somewhat severe check was now to be given to 
Peter's triumphant progress by the outbreak of a war with 
Turkey. This was brought about by the machinations of the 
fugitive Charles, who was still a captive at Bender. During 
his absence from his dominions, Charles had occupied him- 
self continually with attempts to embroil Russia with Turkey. 
The Tsar had managed to enlist as a partisan the vizier 
Churluli, and Akmet III. had even agreed at the beginning 
of the year 1710 to confirm the treaty of Constantinople, on 
condition that Charles should have a free passage through 
Russia into Sweden. The latter, however, declined to avail 
himself of this. His agents, the Polish Generals Poniatovski 
and Potocki, with the help of the French ambassador and 
the Khan of the Crimea, succeeded by one of these court 
intrigues so frequent in Turkish history, in overthrowing 
Churluli and getting Mehemet Pasha made vizier. Mean- 
while, Charles by his chivalrous bravery had gained for 
himself many friends among the Turks. In October 17 10 
the Tsar sent an ultimatum to the Sultan, and soon after- 
wards the latter declared war on the ground that the Tsar 
had erected fortifications which threatened the Crimea, and 
had seized parts of Poland with the object of thence making 
an inroad into Turkish territory. A Turkish army of 300,000 
men was placed under the command of the grand vizier, and 
was to cross the Danube into Russian territory. Peter 
entered upon the war most unwillingly because he had other 
matters to attend to ; his great desire being to consolidate his 
new northern acquisitions. Allies he had none, although 
he made overtures both to Venice and to Louis XIV. He 
endeavoured, however, to enter into relations with the 
Wallachians, Moldavians, and Serbs, all of whom were 
groaning under a yoke which they were eager to cast off. 
Brancovan the hospodar of Wallachia and Kantemir of 
Moldavia (father of the celebrated Antiokh, both Russian 
ambassador and poet) were eager to help him. These 



1711] THE REIGN OF PETER 57 

princes agreed to find supplies for the Russians and to put 
themselves under Peter's protection. It is in reality from 
the time of Peter the Great that the rayahs in Turkey begin 
to look to the Russians for protection. The success of the 
expedition depended upon Peter's being able to anticipate 
the enemy in reaching the Danube so as to get possession of 
Moldavia before the Turks ; and Peter hoped to accomplish 
his object by one decisive blow. Having collected about 
40,000 of his best troops, mostly infantry, including some 
regiments of the guards, he put Sheremetiev in command, 
and ordered him to hasten at once into Moldavia. In March 
171 1 he himself joined the army and expressed great dis- 
satisfaction with the way in which Sheremetiev had wasted 
his time. It had been arranged that he should push on with 
his regiments and reach the Dniester by the middle of May. 
He was then to hurry to the Danube so as to anticipate 
its passage by the Turks. Sheremetiev, harassed by the 
difficulties of his march in the summer heat, and the in- 
sufficiency of provisions, had lost two weeks in his journey to 
the Dniester. He also made a digression to Jassy at the 
request of the Hospodar of Moldavia, and thus further wasted 
time; considering, as he did, that the previous plan of 
the war was abandoned. He could not make up the time 
that had been lost when Peter came into Moldavia, and 
this was partly the cause of the disaster of the Pruth. 
Peter was accompanied by Catherine, and he had left 
Menshikov as governor of St Petersburg during his absence. 
The Russian Emperor was well received by the Polish 
magnates as he marched through Galicia, and at Yarowowo 
he signed the treaty of marriage of his son Alexis with the 
unfortunate princess Charlotte of Wolfenbuttel. 

The Turks, however, succeeded in reaching the Danube 
before the Russians. Peter got to the Pruth on July 5th and 
had a meeting with Kantemir at Jassy ; this was then a poor 
town with a few mosques and so remained till the beginning 
of the nineteenth century : now however it is a very handsome 
city, conspicuous for its well-built churches ; and of the 



58 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1711 

quondam rule of the Turk not a vestige appears to be left. 
Peter now began to find that he could not rely much upon 
his supporters in Turkey. The time for the rising of the 
Christian population against their Ottoman masters had not 
yet come. We shall find, too, that it was premature even in 
the reign of Catherine II. ; all things, however, were tending 
to it, as indeed they always have been. Peter, as we have said, 
had not been eager for the war : on the other hand there is 
evidence that the Turks were also half-hearted, and when Peter 
was at Jassy the Sultan appears to have made offers of peace. 
The Tsar now fell into the serious error of dividing his army : 
one half he sent into Wallachia in the hope of raising the 
population, and went himself to the Pruth, with 30, or 40,000 
men. Brancovan meanwhile showed signs of treachery, and 
soon afterwards openly made common cause with the Grand 
Vizier. The supplies which had been collected for the benefit 
of the Russians were now handed over to the Turks, while 
those which Kantemir had promised had been destroyed by 
locusts. These latter infect this particular part of Europe in 
large swarms : readers of the life of Pushkin will remember 
that the poet quarrelled with Prince Vorontsov because the 
latter had ordered him to report upon the damage which 
locusts had caused in Bessarabia. 

Besides Sheremetiev, Peter had with him Golitsin who had 
come recently from the Baltic provinces, where in conjunction 
with Admiral Apraksin he had distinguished himself at the 
siege of Viborg in 17 10 : we shall deal, however, later on with 
the northern conquests of the Tsar's generals. The Grand 
Vizier, whose troops greatly out-numbered the Russians, now 
attacked them, and although they defended themselves with 
great valour their position became untenable. Peter now- 
sent a trumpeter into the Turkish camp offering terms. It 
is believed that the Grand Vizier had already heard of the 
taking of Braila by Ronne, one of Peter's generals. The 
Tsar employed Shavirov to manage the negotiations. He 
was ready to surrender all Turkish territory occupied by the 
Russians, and even to give up Livonia, but not the district 



1711] 



THE REIGN OF PETER 



59 



upon which the newly founded city of St Petersburg was 
situated. Moreover Peter's terms included a vast bribe to the 
Vizier : and he would even have gone so far as to surrender 
Pskov, and acknowledge Stanislaus Leszczynski king of 
Poland. The Turks consented to allow the Tsar to escape from 
his dilemma, Azov was to be surrendered, and the fortifications 
of Taganzog destroyed. Peter was to cease to interfere in 
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dominions to the King of Sweden. Shavirov and the sons of 
Sheremetiev were to remain with the Turks as hostages. 
The latter atoned by his bravery in the terrible crisis to which 
he had to a great extent contributed. Thus on one occasion 
seeing a wounded Russian soldier surrounded by Turks, he 
rushed to his rescue, thereby imperilling his own life. For 
this he was rebuked by Peter, who said that a general should 
not expose himself in such a reckless fashion. In case the 
Turks should refuse peace Sheremetiev avowed himself ready 
to fight to the last extremity. His son, who when peace had 
been concluded was sent off with Shafirov to Constantinople 
as a hostage, had already distinguished himself at Rapino in 



60 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [nil 

1 701. According to the account of Neculce, the Moldavian 
commander, Peter applied to him to smuggle Catherine and 
himself out of the Russian camp, thereby leaving the command 
to Sheremetiev. 

The letter which Peter is reported to have sent to the 
Senate, telling them that they were to pay no attention to any 
orders which he might give, if he were captured, is now 
generally considered a forgery. It is not mentioned by con- 
temporaries nor can any copy of it be found in the Russian 
archives at the present time. Bribes are said to have been 
given by Catherine to the Turkish officials. This, however, 
is considered improbable by M. Waliszewski, who looks upon 
the final treaty as proceeding from the dislike of the Turks to 
continue the campaign. It was thus that the Russian army 
was rescued. Azov was a great loss to Peter, because it was 
his outlet to the sea, and the scene of one of his earliest 
triumphs. The Russians did not again become possessed of 
it till 1774, as we shall see further on, when the grand 
schemes about the Black Sea were realised by Catherine II. 
The conditions of the treaty were carried out with con- 
siderable difficulty. Peter, much to his honour, refused to 
give up Kantemir at the request of the Sultan and thus 
saved the historian of Turkey from the bow-string. Charles 
was naturally indignant that his powerful enemy had been 
allowed to escape from the consequences of his indiscretion. 
He demanded that the treaty should be abrogated, and he 
refused to leave Turkey. He also persuaded the Sultan to 
dismiss the Vizier and to appoint Yusuf Pasha in his place. 
As some of the terms of the treaty were not carried out Peter 
refused to surrender Azov. He evidently was most un- 
willing to abandon this important position which had cost 
him so much labour and bloodshed. He even gave orders 
that when it was surrendered drawings should be made of 
the fortifications. The Porte was on the point of renewing 
the war on the ground that the terms of the treaty were not 
adhered to ; but Shavirov, who had been sent as a hostage to 
Constantinople, succeeded in persuading the Sultan by the 



17H] THE REIGN OF PETER 61 

help of the English and Dutch ambassadors that the Swedish 
king ought to leave Turkey before Azov was surrendered. 
It was, however, not long before the Turks, while seeming 
to ratify the treaty of the Pruth, again declared war against 
Russia on account of her interference in the affairs of Poland. 
The Tartars devastated the Ukraine and the Turks con- 
centrated their forces at Adrianople as a base from which to 
invade the Russian territory. The Sultan however became 
more disposed to peace when Azov was once surrendered, 
and made a treaty with Russia at Adrianople for twenty-five 
years on the lines of the treaty of the Pruth. Charles was 
now told that he must depart. He flatly refused, and 
when a regiment of janissaries appeared to carry him off he 
fortified the wooden house which he occupied, armed his 
retinue, and fought through a whole day till the Turks burned 
down his house. He then rushed out considerably injured 
with burns and holding a blood-stained sword in his hand ; 
he was caught, however, and taken to Demotica near 
Adrianople. 

Here he became very friendly with the new vizier, and 
nearly succeeded in a second time persuading the Porte to 
take arms against Peter. Finally feeling that all his efforts 
were vain, and hearing of the miserable condition in which 
his country was now placed, he left Turkey in a rage. He 
refused to receive any presents from the Sultan nor would he 
allow him to furnish him with any escort. With a solitary 
companion and under a feigned name, he traversed Wallachia, 
Transylvania, Hungary, Austria and Brunswick, and un- 
expectedly appeared at Stralsund ; the only possession remain- 
ing to the Swedes of the territories they had once occupied 
in Germany. Thus, like a house of cards, had tumbled to 
pieces the fabric of a north Scandinavian confederacy which 
the genius of Gustavus Adolphus had called into being. 
Sweden was to shrink to her natural limits, and the great 
north Germanic confederation was to wait for its realisation 
to the days of Bismarck. 

Of Charles's companion Stanislaus Leszczynski we shall 



62 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [nu 

hear again in the course of our history. Charles gave him 
the little principality of Deux Ponts and he took up his 
abode there in 17 14, but when the Swedish king was killed 
in 1 7 18 he was obliged to quit his retreat and was allowed 
to retire to France. 



1714] 



CHAPTER III 
THE REIGN OF PETER— continued 

SHEREMETIEV had been left in command of the forces 
which occupied the country between the Dnieper and 
Kameniets, while the Malorussian soldiers were to guard the 
line of the Ukraine. Here Sheremetiev remained for three 
years till the winter of 17 14, for the Turks wavered in their 
conduct, at one time seeming disposed to carry out the treaty 
and at another to ignore it. His military labours and increas- 
ing years at length began to tell upon Sheremetiev; family 
troubles also assisted in breaking up his health. In 17 14 his 
eldest son died at Kiev on his return from Constantinople. 
Still Sheremetiev did not leave the service of the Tsar. 
The interests and activity of Peter were now more confined 
to the north,* where the appearance of Charles upon the 
scene was enough once more to kindle the flames of war. 

On the 7th of November 17 14, a certain Peder Frisk, as 
he called himself, made his appearance at Stralsund. He was 
shabbily dressed and covered with dirt, and wayworn. This 
was the mad Charles. He had parted with his oriental 
friends. Those who had assisted Peter in the new role he 
had assumed of Protector of the Christians in the Turkish 
Empire, were likely to become considerably embroiled with 
the Ottoman authorities. Kantemir escaped the vengeance 
of the Turks by removing into Russian territory. Brancovan 
and his son were seized by the officers of the Sultan at 
Bucharest, carried off to Constantinople and there executed. 

During the five years in which Charles had remained in 
Turkey, Sweden had lost Pomerania and Finland. Charles 
himself was to blame for the loss of the first. In 17 10, the 
naval powers — England and Holland — with the concurrence 

63 



64 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1715 

of the German Empire had signed a treaty of neutrality at 
the Hague, which had the effect of removing the northern 
war from German territory. There was no wish on the part of 
the powers to embarrass the great alliance against Louis XIV. 
By this treaty Augustus II. was protected in Saxony ; 
Denmark in Holstein, Schleswig and Jutland ; and Sweden in 
Pomerania. Charles, however, would hear of nothing of the 
kind, although the regency appointed in Stockholm accepted 
it. The Kings of Denmark and Poland hastened to seize 
Stralsund. Charles took command of the garrison and de- 
fended the place till the walls were blown up and the fortifica- 
tions reduced to ashes ; then in a small yacht he crossed the 
Baltic and landed safely in Skaania, although Tordenskjold, 
the famous admiral, the hero of the celebrated ballad, was 
scouring the seas to intercept him. The city of Stralsund 
was taken by the allied forces, including those of Russia, and 
Stettin, reduced to extremities by Menshikov, put itself under 
the protection of Frederick William of Prussia, who held it 
in force, till the Swedes should pay some of the money he 
had spent in saving the town. Charles definitely refused to 
recognise this claim, and the Prussian King accordingly 
incorporated Stettin with his dominions. Menshikov had 
been sent by Peter to Courland and Pomerania, and re- 
mained in command of the troops in Holstein after the 
departure of the Tsar. Sheremetiev also went to Pomerania 
in 1715, he was detained in Poland by the tricks of Fleming 
the Polish minister. Peter on leaving the Pruth had gone 
to Warsaw, where a house is still shown as having been 
occupied by him. He ultimately went as far as Carlsbad 
that he might take the waters. On October 24th he arrived 
at Torgau in order to be present at the marriage of his son 
Alexis with the Princess Charlotte. He finally reached his 
new city of St Petersburg in 17 12. It was not long before 
he discovered that the trickster Augustus of Poland was 
endeavouring to negotiate a separate treaty with Charles ; 
who, however, would never recognise him as king. Peter 
next paid a visit to Berlin and then joined his troops who 



1713] THE REIGN OF PETER 65 

were stationed at Mecklenburg. The year 17 12 was marked 
by the defeat which Stenbok the Swedish general inflicted on 
ther Danish king, Frederick IV., who himself was on the point 
of falling into his hands. We next find the Tsar at Hanover, 
where he had an interview with the Elector, afterwards to be 
King of England. He then visited Berlin again. His old 
friend Frederick I. had died in 17 13, a memorable sovereign 
in the annals of Prussia, as having secured for himself the 
title of king, which was conceded to him by the treaty of 
Utrecht. With him may be said to have originated the 
distinct anti-Polish policy of Prussia. He was succeeded 
by his son Frederick William I. whom Carlyle has made 
celebrated for his stinginess and savage manners. All 
readers of history are acquainted with the penchant of this 
sovereign for giants. Peter was able to humour this fancy 
in a man who had many tastes in common with himself, and 
sent him eighty giants for his regiment of grenadiers. Later 
on, and in the reign of the same sovereign, we have the droll 
story told of Lomonosov the Russian author. He also was 
a man of gigantic stature, and owing to his talents had been 
sent by the Russian Government to be educated in Germany. 
Getting into difficulties he resolved to run away from the 
town in which he was studying — Marburg in Hesse — and on 
his way back, becoming intoxicated at Dusseldorf, he found 
himself on awaking clad in Prussian regimentals. Lomonosov 
was only saved from his embarrassing position by the inter- 
vention of the Russian ambassador. 

The aggressive designs of Peter were next directed against 
Finland. He must have perceived that it was too near to 
St Petersburg to be allowed to remain in foreign hands. The 
Russians felt this in the reign of Catherine II. when the naval 
battles took place, the cannonades of which shook the city. 
The skilful Swedish general, Liibecker, was then operating in 
Finland. In May 1 7 1 3 Peter appeared off Helsingfors, which the 
Swedes surrendered to him and he also got possession of Abo. 
Hereupon the Swedish Government removed Liibecker and 
put Armfeldt in his place. However in October 18th Armfeldt 

E 



66 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1714 

was defeated by the Russian admirals, Apraksin and Golitsin 
at the village of Nappo. At the same time the Tsar (17 14) 
obtained a great naval victory offGangud (between Helsingfors 
and Abo) and took prisoner Admiral Ehrenskiold with all 
his squadron. The conquest of the Aland islands was another 
result of this victory. Finally, when Nyschlot the last re- 
maining fortress was taken, the Swedish troops evacuated 
Finland, leaving the country completely in the hands of the 
Russians. 

We must now turn our attention for a while to Russia's 
internal affairs. In 1712 the Tsar, who had repudiated his 
wife Eudoxia, married Martha Skavronskaya, who became in 
the Greek Church, Catherine. She was crowned and made 
a lawful Russian sovereign. Her early history has already 
been described. In 1703 Peter had begun to build his new 
capital. Thousands of men were brought from all quarters 
to carry out this gigantic undertaking. Malorussians were 
compelled to assist in the erection of the city ; indeed Peter 
seems to have been anxious to break the spirits of that 
people which had never patiently submitted to the Russian 
yoke. Every effort was made by the Tsar to induce the 
Russian nobles to build houses for themselves in the new 
capital. It was there as previously mentioned that Menshikov 
had erected his splendid house. After he had brought back 
the Russian troops from the Swedish war, he was loaded with 
fresh honours. He was rewarded with the Prussian Black 
Eagle and the Danish Elephant. Foreign potentates vied 
with the Tsar in decorating him. This was the climax of his 
career. Promoted to the highest rank, and owning 50,000 
peasants, he was also the lord of three towns, Oranienburg, 
Yamburg and Koporie. But he was not contented ; he could 
put no limit to his love of gain. The Tsar forgave his 
haughtiness, but had frequent occasions to rebuke him for 
his insatiable desire for wealth, and was displeased at the 
unscrupulous means he too often adopted to secure it. At 
length, by the wish of the Tsar, he was examined in a court 
of justice and he was obliged to refund some of his gains. 



1715] THE REIGN OF PETER 67 

In vain did the Tsar expect genuine repentance from his 
favourite. Fresh misdealings were discerned immediately 
afterwards. The Tsar now resolved to make an example of 
the offender, and to show as much severity in punishing him 
as he had previously found pleasure in rewarding him. From 
this fate, however, Menshikov was saved by the intervention of 
the Empress Catherine. She remembered that it was at 
the house of Menshikov that the Tsar had first met her. 
The Tsar again forgave him. He left him his rank and 
honours; nay even, remembering his great services in the 
past, associated with him on the former terms. When some 
courtier asked him what he thought of the conduct of his 
favourite, when the latter had just been detected in some 
new peculation, Peter is reported to have answered, " I 
have nothing to say except that Menshikov always will be 
Menshikov." 

In 17 15 an English and Dutch fleet visited the Baltic, and 
Peter dined on board the flagship of Admiral Norris. He 
thus renewed acquaintance with his English naval friends. 
We have already quoted from Perry the complimentary 
remarks he was in the habit of making upon the English 
sailors, for whom he felt a genuine admiration. The follow- 
ing year his youngest sister Natalia, who seems to have been 
a woman of much culture, died. 

Thus the return of Charles, so far from allaying the dis- 
ordered state of Sweden, increased her troubles. Besides his 
three former enemies, he had now two more opponents in the 
King of Prussia and the Elector of Hanover. With the former 
he quarrelled about Stettin not being prepared, as we have 
seen, to recognise its hypothecation. His dispute with the 
latter was concerned with the Swedish towns of Werden and 
Bremen, of which the Elector wished to get possession, accord- 
ing to his treaty with the King of Denmark. Moreover, 
England and Holland at length resolved to take part in the 
northern war, from a feeling of dissatisfaction with Charles, 
who had allowed his privateers to seize neutral vessels. In 
this way there was an alliance of seven countries against 



68 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1718 

Sweden, viz., Russia, Poland, Denmark, Hanover, Prussia, 
England and Holland. All this served Peter's purpose 
admirably. He felt that Sweden was his most important 
enemy, and wished to deal her a decisive blow, recog- 
nising that the command of the Baltic was necessary for 
the very existence of his new capital. But Charles, despite 
the fact that he had just lost Stralsund, would not enter- 
tain the idea of peace. His whole policy was based upon 
a radical misconception of the resources of Sweden and 
of the position she occupied in the European system. It 
is therefore impossible to consider him in any true sense 
a statesman, even if we allow ourselves to admire the fight- 
ing qualities of this berseker. In the same way towards the 
close of the century the inflated and theatrical Gustavus III. 
acted as if Sweden was one of the great powers, and had un- 
limited resources, and thus dragged the country into useless 
wars solely to gratify his own vanity and political ambition. 

The allies, however, soon ceased to work in harmony. The 
Danes especially seem to have had their suspicions of Peter. 
Augustus of Poland shuffled as usual. This want of unanimity 
among the allies could not escape the notice of the far-seeing 
minister Gortz, who enjoyed Charles's complete confidence. 
He excogitated a subtle plan based on an attempted recon- 
ciliation between Peter and the king. It certainly seemed 
impossible that such a result could be brought about, because 
neither one nor the other was prepared to give up Livonia, 
Esthonia, and Ingria. At the suggestion of Gortz, however, 
Charles offered terms of peace, which were readily listened to 
by Peter, and negotiations were at once opened in the Aland 
islands between Gortz on the one side, and Bruce and Oster- 
mann on the other. These did not last long. Gortz had a 
personal interview with Peter when at the Hague during his 
second tour, of which we shall speak shortly. It seemed better 
to discuss the relations with Sweden collectively. In the 
event Charles gave up to Russia Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, 
Karelia, and the part of Finland in which Viborg is situated. 
Peter, on his part, promised to force Augustus of Poland to 



1718] THE REIGN OF PETER 69 

abdicate, and to forward the return of Stanislaus Leszczynski. 
He was also to send troops to assist Sweden in the war with 
Denmark and Hanover, and to help in conquering Norway. 
Besides this, Gortz, in conjunction with the intriguing Spanish 
minister Alberoni, had plans for driving the Elector of Hanover 
from the English throne, and restoring the Stuarts in the 
person of the Pretender. With this view, a certain Thomas 
Gordon, governor of Cronstadt, a Scotchman in the service of 
Peter, entered into a correspondence with the Pretender. A 
Russian fleet was to make a descent upon the English coast. 
Thus the flames of a northern war seemed to be about to 
spread over all Europe, when a sudden end was put to all 
these plans. 

In the late autumn of 17 18, Charles had set out to 
conquer Norway, which then belonged to Denmark, and 
laid siege to the town of Frederikshald. The war was far 
from being popular among the Swedes : the siege was being 
carried on in a most severe winter ; it was like making 
trenches in a rock. But Charles shared all the fatigue 
with his men. Voltaire has described how the king used 
on the coldest nights to sleep in the open air with only a 
cloak thrown over him. Yet at this time many of his 
soldiers were frozen to death at their posts. About nine 
o'clock at night on the eleventh of December, he went to 
examine the trenches. He found the parallel not advanced 
enough and expressed his discontent. The angle of the 
rampart where the king was standing was commanded by 
the enemy's cannon. There were only two officers near 
him at the time, both Frenchmen : one was M. Signier, 
his aide-de-camp, who had attached himself to his service 
in Turkey, and the other an engineer named Megret. These 
two saw the king suddenly fall and heard him utter a sigh. 
When they ran up to him he was already dead. He had 
been struck by a ball in the right temple. However much 
the patriotism of the Swedes has occasionally attempted to 
conceal it, there can be no doubt that the shot had been 
fired by someone in the Swedish camp. This is proved 



70 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1719 

by the direction from which the ball came. The musket 
from which the ball was fired is said to be preserved in 
the house of a country gentleman in the Baltic provinces. 
The Swedes were in fact reduced to extremities and were 
tired of the mad pranks of the king. It has been con- 
jectured that he was shot by the engineer Megret at the 
instigation of his brother-in-law Prince Frederick of Hesse, 
husband of the Princess Ulrika the heiress to the throne. 
Charles was only thirty-six years of age. Extraordinary ac- 
counts have come down to us of the rudeness of his manners. 
It is difficult to see how such a man could have been in any 
way a patron of learning, as is asserted by some of his admirers. 

The prince at once ordered the arrest of Gortz. This 
unfortunate minister was made the victim of the indigna- 
tion universally felt at the miserable condition of Sweden, 
while Charles became and has ever since remained a national 
hero. Gortz was brought to Stockholm, and without any 
regular trial was sentenced by the queen to be executed. 
In this way the nobility exacted vengeance for the humilia- 
tions to which Charles had subjected them. 

The new queen resolved to carry on the war against 
Peter with all the resources at her disposal, and to make 
peace with all the other enemies of Sweden. To the Elector 
of Hanover she gave up Bremen and Werden ; to the King 
of Prussia, Stettin and Upper Pomerania; and to the King 
of Denmark, Schleswig. By abandoning these territories the 
queen hoped with the help of England to get back those 
which the Russians had conquered. 

Peter now fitted out a large fleet under the command of 
Admiral Apraksin and landed troops on the east coast of 
Sweden. These latter burned two towns and a great many 
villages in the neighbourhood of Stockholm. Ostermann 
was sent to Sweden to negotiate a peace, but he found all 
efforts in that direction useless. Ulrika entreated the King 
of England to hasten to her aid and a treaty was concluded 
between the two powers. As Elector of Hanover, George 
received the towns of Bremen and Werden upon payment 



1721] THE REIGN OF PETER 71 

of a million thalers, and a great fleet was to be sent to 
assist Sweden to maintain her supremacy in the Baltic. 

In 1720, Queen Ulrika, feeling the responsibilities of 
empire too heavy for her, with the consent of the States, 
resigned her power into the hands of her husband, who 
was recognised thenceforth as King Frederick I. His long 
reign (1720-1750) was indeed a gloomy one for Sweden, 
which now had to make atonement for the indiscretions 
of the mad Charles. Russia without allies turned to Spain 
then governed by the capable Alberoni, the favourite minister 
of Elizabeth Farnese. But on the fall of the Cardinal these 
negotiations came to an end. 

In 1720, George I. willing to assist the new king, sent 
a considerable fleet under the command of Admiral Norris 
to the Gulf of Finland, and threatened St Petersburg. The 
English however were half-hearted, and there was a con- 
siderable party in opposition who thought that the com- 
mercial interests of the country would suffer by a war with 
Russia. Norris, thus handicapped, did as little in the Baltic 
as did Napier more than a century afterwards. 

In 1 72 1 Peter sent some ships under the command of 
Golitsin, one of his most capable men, to threaten Sweden, 
and a Swedish squadron was defeated near the island of 
Grengam, almost under the eyes of the English. Golitsin 
even brought four ships which he had taken to St Petersburg. 
George I. was obliged to tell the Swedish king how little 
sympathy the war had aroused in England. Meanwhile 
Golitsin continued his depredations on the coast of Sweden, 
and that unhappy country was still to pay the penalties of 
juxtaposition to its powerful and hostile neighbour. At 
length it was decided to hold a congress at Nystadt, a town 
in Finland, not far from Abo. The deliberations lasted some 
time, Russia being represented by Bruce and Ostermann, and 
Sweden by Lilienstedt and Stromfeldt. The chief subjects 
of contention were Livonia and Viborg. Peter even gave 
orders to Golitsin to attack Stockholm itself, with a view of 
putting an end to any further delay in the proceedings of the 



72 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1717 

congress. Finally matters were arranged by the celebrated 
treaty of Nystadt (September 10, 1721); Russia was to 
receive Livonia with the islands of Egel and Dago, Esthonia, 
Ingria, and a part of Finland with the town of Viborg, and 
undertook to pay Sweden two million dollars for Livonia. 

The news of the peace was received in Russia with great 
rejoicing : the Tsar ordered casks of brandy to be brought 
into the public squares and drank a bumper to the health 
of the people. Everywhere were fireworks and triumphal 
processions. The Tsar received from the Senate the title 
of Great Emperor (Imperator), Father of the Country. 

Hitherto we have followed events in Sweden in order not 
to disturb the sequence of our narrative; it is time to turn 
our attention to what had been occurring in the interval in 
other parts. Sheremetiev the boyar of the old school who 
had followed the fortunes of Peter in so many fields, was 
not destined to be present at his triumph on the 29th of 
February 17 19, having died at Kiev. He had left orders by 
his will that he should be buried near his son in that city. 
The Tsar however had his remains removed to St Petersburg 
and gave him a grand public funeral. Space will not permit 
of our going much into details about his family, but one of 
his daughters has immortalised herself in the annals of female 
heroism. This was the famous Natalia who lived with her 
husband, Prince Ivan Dolgoruki, eleven years in Siberia amid 
the terrible snows of Berezov, a place also destined to be 
the scene of the exile of Menshikov. Of the fate of Ivan 
Dolgoruki we shall hear more during the reign of the 
Empress Anne. Natalia has left some interesting memoirs 
which do credit alike to her head and heart. On the death 
of her husband she became a nun and died at Kiev in 1771. 

While occupied with Swedish matters, Peter did not 
neglect the southern parts of his Empire and his Eastern 
policy. In 1715 he sent Artemii Volinski as ambassador to 
the Shah of Persia, and in 1722 he seized Baku and opened 
for himself a route to the Caspian. 

In 1 717 his second tour in Western Europe was under- 



1717] THE REIGN OF PETER 73 

taken. On his previous journey he had not visited France, 
but was now eager to do so as friendly relations had 
for some time existed between Russia and that country. 
Catherine was with him during some part of his journey 
but she did not accompany him to Paris, remaining at 
Amsterdam while he visited that city. She was treated with 
great courtesy by the Dutch authorities with whom Peter 
always seems to have been a persona grata. He now 
journeyed in the direction of Berlin, and while passing 
through Wittenberg visited the localities connected with the 
memory of Luther. On reaching Berlin we are told that he 
surprised the King Frederick William, the father of Frederick 
the Great, by his neglect of the rules of etiquette. It might 
rather have been expected that such conduct would have 
recommended him to a man about whose eccentricities 
Carlyle has so much to tell us. The daughter of the king, 
who was afterwards the margravine of Baireuth, has left in her 
memoirs a sarcastic and highly-coloured picture of Catherine. 
The margravine was then a child of only eight years of 
age. She tells us that the Tsaritsa looked like a low-born 
woman and wore so many decorations that her dress rattled 
as she walked. She was witness also of one of the convulsive 
fits from which Peter suffered and of which the origin has 
been assigned to various causes : among them being that 
epilepsy of genius which recalls to our minds the twitches 
and contortions of Dr Johnson. Peter was well received by 
the Regent at Paris. The Grand Monarque was now dead, 
and Louis XV. was a minor. When the little king came to 
visit Peter, the latter took him up in his arms and kissed him. 
He lived during the time he was at Paris in a simple way. 
He is reported to have said, "lama soldier ; a little bread 
and beer satisfy me ; I prefer small apartments to large ones. 
I have no desire to be attended with pomp and ceremony 
nor to give trouble to so many people ! " Here we have the 
genuine expression of a noble mind. The curiosity of Peter 
in the great city was unbounded. He visited the Academy 
of Sciences and was enrolled among its members. He was 



74 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [171: 

very much struck by an operation performed upon a man's 
eye, just as he had been by another surgical feat when in 
Holland. He gazed with admiration on the tomb of Cardinal 
Richelieu, and declared that he would have given him half 
of his dominions on condition that he taught him how to 
govern the other half. But to the statecraft of autocracy and 
despotism he was no stranger ; it had come to him in his 
very blood : it is difficult to see what he could have gained 
from the counsels of Richelieu, certainly nothing of con- 
stitutional government or popular progress. At the Sorbonne 
the professors had the bad taste to thrust into his hand a 
document on a proposed amalgamation of the Greek and 
Latin churches. But Peter met these pedants with the 
answer that he was a soldier and that his bishops would be 
better judges of the matter than himself. On his departure 
from Paris he took away with him various useful mechanics 
and artisans. He also drew up the preliminaries of a treaty 
of commerce with France. He then rejoined Catherine at 
Amsterdam. While in Holland he purchased several of the 
works of Dutch masters. He had determined to have a 
gallery of painting and sculpture in his capital. We find 
him afterwards purchasing the antique statues which had 
been collected by an Englishman named Lyde Brown. 
These formed the nucleus of the splendid collection at 
St Petersburg. 

A project which Peter is said to have had of marrying 
his daughter Elizabeth, afterwards Empress, to Louis XV. 
came to nothing, but we shall find later that a leaning to 
France coloured the politics of her reign. The Tsar returned 
to St Petersburg in October 1717. 

After the treaty of Xystadt which had left Peter dominant 
in the Baltic, he began to occupy himself with his great 
reforms. Even in the reign of his father, Alexis, Russia had 
begun to shake off her semi-Asiatic stagnation. Attempts 
had been made to organise the army on the Western model, 
and many foreigners had been taken into the Russian service. 
We have already spoken of the Russian career of Patrick 



1718] THE REIGN OF PETER 75 

Gordon. That Russia must either disappear from among 
European nations or adopt Western ideas was a truth that 
was perfectly realised by such men as Kotishikhin and 
Krizhanick, two contemporary writers who have left us 
valuable pictures of Russian life ; the magnificence of the 
court ; the servility of the boyars, and the Oriental seclusion 
of the women. Sophia was well aware of the dismal lot that 
awaited her; because, as Mayerberg the German ambassador 
pointed out, the female relations of the Tsar were worse off 
than the ladies belonging to private families. They could 
not marry foreign princes — we have the rare exception of 
Helen, the daughter of Ivan III., having married Alexander 
of Poland — and to marry Russian gentlemen would have been 
considered beneath their dignity. They passed their lives 
without any object; their employments being to embroider, 
and to listen to the skazki and gossip of their female slaves. 
We know what the life of a Russian woman of old time was 
from the directions laid down in the Domostroi of the priest 
Sylvester, written in the reign of Ivan IV. They only went 
out to public ceremonies. They were born and died un- 
known to the outer world. They knew nothing of what 
was going on around them ; contemporary travellers tell us 
that even to go to church they had to pass through a long 
gallery, and that when they went out it was in close vehicles, 
surrounded by a retinue of ladies, much as Oriental princesses 
do now. Very few of the numerous courtiers who used to 
frequent the palace had ever seen the wife or daughter of 
the Tsar. The princesses remained in a state of complete 
ignorance, as Kotishikhin, the renegade diak, or secretary, 
has told us. In his desire, however, to blacken the reputa- 
tion of the country which he had forsaken, he has stated the 
case as badly as possible. Peter during his travels had seen 
the salons of the West. He now organised his assemblies, 
where, to the scandal of ecclesiastics and old-fashioned 
people, the sexes met for conversation. Perhaps these 
reunions were not always of the most refined character, but 
they were certainly better than the dull pleasures of the 



76 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1718 

terem, where the chief amusement was to hear the female 
serfs babbling. As for the men, when left to themselves 
their only pleasure was in drinking, and the antics of 
skomorokhi or buffoons and of dwarfs. 

One of the great objects of Peter was to get rid of the 
Oriental dress. The long caftan, so characteristic of Eastern 
people, who seem to think that one element of dignity is to 
have a garment which descends to the heels was now to be 
exchanged for a coat in the French style ; and a flowing 
wig covered the heads of the Russians, already, as a rule, 
so abundantly furnished by nature. The portraits in the 
Hermitage of Peter's eaglets and fellow-workers look almost 
comic in this inappropriate dress. But the great difficulty 
was to get the Russians to abandon their beards. They 
clung, with considerable reason to these manly appendages, 
which had to be shaved off in compliance with an ukaz. We 
are told of one man who, when his beard had been cut off, 
preserved it so that it might be placed in his coffin. How- 
ever, exemption from shaving might be purchased by paying 
a tax, and as an indication that this tax had been paid, a 
brass token was given. Specimens of these medals are still 
preserved in Russia. Peter had in these, as in other matters, 
to struggle against much opposition from the clergy. 

The year had hitherto commenced, according to the old 
Russian Calendar, in the month of September. It was now 
to begin as in the West with the first of January. Moreover, 
the Russians were no longer in their chronology to count 
from the beginning of the world. On approaching the 
sovereign the ceremony of chelobitie or striking the ground 
with the forehead had hitherto been performed. This was 
abolished by Peter. At a later time we find it meaning 
simply a petition, but the use of it in that sense was abolished 
by Catherine II. Peter also put an end to the barbarous 
custom of the pravtozh, whereby debtors who could not pay 
were daily beaten on their shins by their creditors in some 
public place. 

An extraordinary change was introduced with regard to 



1718] THE REIGN OF PETER 77 

tobacco. Alexis, the father of Peter, had a great dislike to 
the practice of smoking, and in the UlozJienie or Code of 
Laws, which he published in 1649, the penalty for smoking 
was to have the nose cut off. Peter however, while in 
England, had negotiated with Lord Carmarthen for a tobacco 
monopoly, and on his return to Russia did everything in his 
power to encourage its use. One portrait of Peter represents 
him dressed as a sailor with a pipe in his mouth. 

Apothecaries' shops were established in Moscow, and the 
Russians were forbidden to carry knives, the use of which 
led to quarrels and outrages in the streets. Still the punish- 
ments inflicted by the Russians judicially continued to be 
cruel for some time afterwards; men were broken on the 
wheel or hung up to die with a hook round one of their 
ribs. Women were buried alive for the murder of a husband. 
The penalty of banishment to Siberia was in full force ; it 
may be said to have begun at the close of the sixteenth 
century, but reached its height in the reigns of Anne and 
Elizabeth. In the important question of religious reforms, 
Peter was assisted by Feofan Prokopovitch, and here a few 
words must be said about this remarkable man, who co-oper- 
ated largely in Peter's innovations. A clever preacher and 
propagator of the orthodox doctrines, Prokopovitch was born 
at Kiev, June 19, 1681. Up to the eighteenth year of his 
age, he was educated in the schools of Kiev, where a more 
liberal education could be procured than in any other portion 
of the Russian dominions. This was owing to the fact that 
that part of Russia had been for a long time under the 
domination of the Poles, and had therefore been brought 
more into contact with Western culture. After attending 
lectures at Kiev, Feofan travelled through various Slavonic 
countries and finally reached Rome, where he entered the 
college of St Athanasius, which had been founded by Pope 
Gregory XIIL, to serve as a place of education for Greeks 
and Slavs. The teachers were Jesuits, and Feofan soon 
became a favourite with them ; they loved him for his 
cheerful disposition and his great capacity; but they were 



78 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1719 

not able to bring him over to their way of thinking. 
Here he occupied himself busily with the classics and the 
Greek and Latin fathers. About r702, he managed after 
many impediments to get back to Russia, and took up his 
quarters at Kiev. He now threw off entirely his connection 
with the Uniates, and composed a course of instruction in 
Poetry or Piitiki as it was called (Greek. -oi^-r/J,). He also 
wrote a tragi-comedy called Vladimir to be acted by the 
students. If we wish to get a picture of the kind of life 
which the Polish, Russian and Malorussian students led at 
Kiev, we must read the quaint descriptions in the Vii of 
Gogol. 

Prokopovitch first attracted the attention of Peter by a 
speech which he delivered when the Tsar visited Kiev in 
1700, and later he pronounced an elaborate discourse after 
the battle of Poltava. This latter pleased the Tsar so much 
that by his orders it was printed in the Slavonic and Latin 
languages, together with the Russian, Polish, and Latin verses 
with which conquerors were generally greeted. After this 
Prokopovitch accompanied the Tsar in the unfortunate Turkish 
expedition of 171 1, and subsequently went back for eight 
years to Kiev; but in 17 16 he was called to St Petersburg, 
and was soon after made Bishop of Novgorod. To him in 
1 7 19 Peter entrusted the composition of the celebrated 
Dukhovfii Reglament which has been already alluded to. He 
was thus one of the chief agents in the religious reforms 
which Peter introduced. The clergy had become very rich 
in Russia. Giles Fletcher, the observant English ambassador 
at the court of Ivan the Terrible, noticed that in all the most 
agreeable localities in the country there was a monastery. 
Ustrialov tells us that forty-one monasteries were erected in 
the twelfth century, twenty-two in the thirteenth, eighty in 
the fourteenth and seventy in the fifteenth. Originally the 
Russian clergy had been under the jurisdiction of the 
Patriarch of Constantinople, but when that city fell into the 
power of the Turks, it was difficult to submit to the jurisdic- 
tion of an ecclesiastic who was under a Moslem yoke, and 



1721] THE REIGN OF PETER 79 

so a patriarchate was established at Moscow by Boris 
Godunov in 1589, and this was the office that was now 
abolished by Peter. Of these patriarchs there had been ten. 
When, in 1700, Adrian the patriarch died, Peter abolished 
the office at once, and appointed in lieu thereof a "Metro- 
politan of Moscow." The first man under the new order 
of things was Stephen Yavorski who had previously been 
metropolitan of Riazan. He also was one of Peter's chief 
agents in his ecclesiastical reforms. To emphasize the new 
order of things more strongly, we are told that Peter himself 
sat down in the patriarch's chair exclaiming, " I am the 
patriarch," a new version of the motto, " L'Etat c'est moi." 
Peter much disapproved of the power which the ecclesiastics 
enjoyed, and the subordinate position which he was obliged 
to take when he led the ass of the patriarch on Palm Sunday. 
The chief exception to triumphant autocracy which he had 
seen when on his travels was the case of William III. ; and 
since nothing escaped his observation, whether it were state- 
craft art, learning or practical mechanics, it may well have 
been owing to what he had seen in England, that he formed 
the plan of making the ecclesiastical subordinate to the 
temporal power. 

In 1 72 1 the Reglament duly appeared, in which the 
government of the Church is entirely remodelled upon 
Western lines. In the new metropolitan Yavorski and 
Prokopovitch, both men of light and leading, to use the 
contemporary jargon, both inhabitants of Little Russia, and 
with Western training, Peter found admirable coadjutors. He 
knew that he needed educated men and he could find them 
in Malorussia. Kiev had its academy founded by Peter 
Mogila in 1631. A variety of learned works had been 
published in that city, such as the treatise on Logic by 
Galatovski, and that on Theology by Trankvillion. From 
Kiev had come Simeon Polotski, already mentioned, poet, 
dramatist and pedagogue. To him the children of Alexis, 
and notably Sophia, owed a great deal, and if we consider 
him in connection with his surroundings, he was certainly a 



80 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1721 

remarkable man. In 1721 also Peter instituted the Chin or 
Table of Ranks, which classified all the free inhabitants in 
their ecclesiastical, civil or military capacities. All nobles 
must be employed in some office of the State. The merchants 
were divided into guilds. 

As regards the serfs, their condition was not much improved 
during Peter's reign, although he put forward on their behalf 
several well-intentioned ukazes. Thus he forbade the sale 
of serfs except in cases of absolute necessity, and insisted 
upon families of peasants being kept together. But when 
in 1705 compulsory service was imposed upon all serfs 
equally — whether odnodvortsi, a kind of copy- holders — or 
polovniki, a kind of metayers — a tendency was developed to 
put all upon the same footing. With reference to his own 
authority, while being in complete hostility to everything 
Mongolian which had remained in Russia, Peter did not in 
any way seek to limit the power of the Tsar. Indeed, as 
has been said before, there was nothing in the rest of 
Europe to recommend constitutional government to him, 
while in the case of Poland he saw it developing into com- 
plete anarchy. 

The great tragedy of the reign of Peter was the death of 
his son Alexis. Peter as we have seen had divorced his first 
wife, Eudoxia Lopukhin. He seems to have felt but little 
affection for her. She was also in close relations with the 
reactionary party. Alexis, under his mother's influence, grew 
up a bigoted young man, and spent most of his time with 
monks. Peter had originally built great hopes upon him, 
and had drawn up with his own hand elaborate plans for his 
education. He sent him into Germany to pursue his studies, 
and Alexis was for some time at Dresden, where he busied 
himself with geometry and fortification. He kept up, how- 
ever, during the whole time, relations with the reaction- 
aries of Moscow. One of his tutors was a German named 
Weber, who wrote an interesting book on Russia. 

When Peter remonstrated with his son for his idleness, the 
only reply which Alexis vouchsafed was that he wished to be 



1717] THE REIGN GF PETER 81 

a monk. Peter had at last brought about his marriage with 
the Princess Charlotte of Wolfenbuttel. The ceremony took 
place at Torgau on the 14th of August 171 1. The princess 
was an amiable woman of some personal attractions, but 
Alexis treated her with cruelty. She died at an early age in 
17 15, leaving two children — Peter, afterwards Emperor, and 
a daughter named Natalia. On quitting Russia for his 
second tour, the Tsar had had a long conference with Alexis, 
in which the latter told him again that he felt himself unequal 
to the duties of the throne and wished to become a monk. 
Peter recommended him to think the matter over and to 
come to him at Copenhagen. Alexis set out on his journey, 
but after he reached Konigsberg, all trace of him was lost. 
For a long time no one knew what had become of him, till 
Rumiantsov, a captain of the Guards, discovered his retreat. 
He had travelled by way of Breslau and Prague to Vienna, 
and late one evening called upon the Imperial Vice- 
Chancellor Count Schonborn. The German Emperor was 
then Charles VI. who had married the sister of the wife of 
Alexis. The latter declared that he was going to put himself 
under the Emperor's protection. His brother-in-law how- 
ever refused to see him, and sent him first to the castle of 
Weierburg near Vienna, and then to Ehrenberg in the Tyrol. 
It was supposed that he could remain hidden there and 
escape his father's wrath, at least for a time. Alexis had with 
him a Finnish girl Afrosinia, and was furnished with all the 
luxuries he desired, but kept a close prisoner. His rank also 
was carefully concealed from all his attendants. Rumiantsov 
did not find out what had become of him till the end of April 
17 17. He was then conveyed in great secrecy to the castle 
of St Elmo near Naples. Strong measures were now taken 
to induce Austria to surrender the fugitive and Tolstoi was 
accordingly sent to Vienna, and was allowed to go to St 
Elmo to have a conference with Alexis. He had great 
difficulties in inducing the fugitive to return ; and only 
succeeded in doing so by threats and a promise that he should 
be allowed to marry his favourite Afrosinia. To this union 

F 



82 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1718 

Peter apparently promised his consent. Alexis travelled home- 
wards very slowly. Afrosinia was left behind at Venice on the 
ground that she was too unwell to travel. Alexis at length 
arrived in Moscow, and soon afterwards Afrosinia was taken 
to St Petersburg and was at once imprisoned. 

Peter had already decided upon excluding Alexis from the 
succession, and had appointed a commission to examine into 
his offences. He wept bitterly, and asked his father's pardon. 
However blameworthy the Tsesarevich was, the Tsar promised 
to pardon him if he would reveal his confederates. He was 
then declared to be disinherited, and an heir to the throne 
was fixed upon in the person of Peter, another son of the 
Tsar, by Catherine, who, however, did not live to succeed, 
but died young in 17 19. The Assembly then adjourned to 
the Uspenski Sobor, where Alexis took the oath to the newly- 
appointed heir to the throne. The Commission revealed a great 
deal which Alexis had striven to hide. He had been in the 
habit of speaking of the Tsar with the greatest disrespect. He 
had often openly said that he wished he was dead. He had 
threatened to put to death on his accession all the nobles who 
had supported his father. He had been glad when he heard 
of the revolts among the soldiers and the people. He had 
made formal complaint to the German Emperor, and, what 
was more important than all, when at Vienna, he had pre- 
pared letters to the senators and priests, urging them to revolt. 
Moreover, his treasonable designs were known to Eudoxia, 
Peter's divorced wife, narrow-minded and ignorant, who had 
always greatly affected the old regime. The elder sister of 
Peter, Maria Alekseievna, had, to a certain extent, similar 
views ; and, indeed, we must not wonder that these aristo- 
cratic ladies — and probably many others, whose names did 
not transpire — disliked the new plans of the regenerator. 
What a scandal to these strict and strait-laced women the 
assemblies must have been ! Certainly Alexis had contrived 
in a wonderful way to gather round himself all the disaffected. 
As regards the divorced Tsaritsa, the revelations made showed 
that she could hardly be said to have practised orthodox 



1718] THE REIGN OF PETER 83 

austerities. On the contrary, she held a small luxurious court 
in the monastery, and gathered round her another group of 
those who sighed over the evil days, and longed for the 
restitution of old customs. Peter caused her to be removed 
to a convent of stricter rules at Old Ladoga. She survived to 
a good old age, and was present at the coronation of her 
grandson Peter, in 1730. No doubt her last moments were 
consoled by the apparent prospect of a reversion to the old 
order of things. Maria, Peter's sister, was incarcerated at 
Schliisselburg, the gloomy prison on the lake which has seen 
so much human suffering in Russian annals. . The minor 
criminals, as is always the case in trials of this sort, suffered 
the full vengeance of the Government, just as Ankarstrom at 
the close of the century was made in Sweden the scapegoat of 
the conspiracy against Gustavus III. Glebov who had been 
implicated in the irregularities of the widowed Tsaritsa ; Kikin, 
the special friend of Alexis, Ignatiev, and others, were exe- 
cuted with cruel tortures. The miserable Alexis, whose con- 
duct had been throughout so wayward, from every point of 
view, and so inexplicable, now went to St Petersburg, and 
appeared to be reconciled to his father. With the complete 
want of natural affection which characterised him, he seems 
to have forgotten the young German wife whom he had so 
brutally treated, and hurried to her grave. He begged that 
he might marry the coarse Finnish girl, a woman absolutely 
without sentiment or refinement, as her letters show. How- 
ever, his request was treated with contempt, and the miserable 
woman, either from want of feeling, or terrorised by Peter, 
made a full confession of all the foolish and traitorous things 
which Alexis had been in the habit of saying. Peter now was 
thoroughly incensed against his son ; he saw that he medi- 
tated a complete destruction of all his cherished plans • the 
capital was to be no longer St Petersburg, but reactionary 
Moscow. The fleet would be destroyed, and old-fashioned 
Russia would be brought back to life. Not only then was 
Alexis in the deepest sense of the word a traitor, in that he 
was working against the best interests of Russia, but he also 



84 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1718 

showed a total want of filial piety ; he was anxious for the 
death of his father. 

The character of the unfortunate man seems a complete 
puzzle : he was not wanting in natural ability. His education 
had been planned most carefully, and Leibnitz even had given 
the Tsar the benefit of his counsel ; and, besides Weber, already 
spoken of, he had had another tutor of repute, Neugebauer. 
The enemies of the Tsar were already looking forward to what 
would occur when Alexis should rule ; Sweden would surely 
get back her lost territory. 

The Russian Tsar, as such, had all the ideas of an Oriental 
autocrat. We are apt to forget this in Peter's case, on account 
of his Western inclinations, and the ease with which he adopted 
the civilisation of more advanced countries. Whether he 
actually ordered his son to be put to death will perhaps for 
ever remain a State secret. Alexis was tried by a tribunal of the 
highest functionaries of the State and was sentenced to death. 
There were one hundred and twenty-seven judges, and as they 
all knew the verdict they were expected to give, there could 
not be much doubt as to what it would be. According 
to some authorities the Tsesarevich was beheaded. Lady 
Rondeau, the wife of the English resident, gives a story of 
a girl being employed to sew on the head of the corpse, 
so as to hide all traces of his having been decapitated. Peter 
Henry Bruce — whose memoirs are, however, regarded by 
some writers as spurious — speaks of a poison, procured from 
an apothecary at St Petersburg, having been administered to 
the prince. It appears most probable that the unfortunate 
young man expired under the knout. He died on the 7th of 
June 1 7 18. It was given out that he had died of an apo- 
plectic stroke. One is reminded of the letter sent by the 
Russian Minister to foreign courts on the death of Paul. 
Peter showed no signs of grief; the very day after his son's 
death the anniversary of the battle of Poltava was celebrated. 
In the case of Alexis, as on so many other occasions in 
Russian history, pretenders made their appearance, who 
were, however, all dealt with in summary fashion. 



1721] • THE REIGN OF PETER 85 

In 1 72 1 Peter promulgated an ukaze, afterwards abrogated 
by Paul, to the effect that the Tsar had the right of naming 
his successor. By this injudicious law the way was paved 
for the revolutions de palais and weak female reigns, till 
Catherine II. had seated herself on the throne. 

We must now retrace our steps a little to consider the 
action of Peter with regard to Persia. His Eastern policy 
has been briefly alluded to above. He had also had great 
ideas of the important trade which the Russians might carry 
on with Asia. In 17 17 he sent Prince Bekovich to open 
negotiations with the khans of Khiva and Bokhara; he was 
to offer these potentates the opportunity of becoming tributary 
to Russia. With a regiment of 7500 men Bekovich sailed 
across the Caspian. The Khivans seeing his approach, sus- 
pected that the expedition was altogether a military one, and 
not merely for commercial purposes. But Bekovich, although 
a Circassian, who must have been acquainted with Oriental 
stratagem, was so imprudent as to visit the Khan for a per- 
sonal interview with but a small escort. He was treacherously 
seized and killed. 

In spite of the failure of this attempt, Peter did not lose 
hope of reaching the wealthy regions he coveted, and he 
made use of the disturbed condition of Persia to strengthen 
his influence in the East. In that country a sanguinary civil 
war had been raging for . more than twelve years. Shah 
Hussein, knowing nothing that took place outside of his 
Seraglio and surrounded by unworthy favourites, had lost the 
affection of his subjects by a rule as weak as it was cruel. 
The Afghans were especially embittered against him, and of 
these most of all those in the neighbourhood of Candahar. 
In 1709 they openly rose. They found a leader who pro- 
mised them freedom from the hateful Persian yoke. He 
succeeded in defeating the soldiers of the Shah, and threw 
even Ispahan into a state of agitation. Hussein, through the 
instrumentality of the Russian resident, Artemii Volinski, 
who has already been mentioned, as early as 17 12 asked the 
Russian Tsar for assistance. Peter at that time had enough 



86 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1722 

to occupy his attention, and moreover had only recently ex- 
tricated himself from his unfortunate escapade on the Pruth. 
The rebel leader died about this time, and was succeeded by 
his son, Mir Mahmoud, who was even a greater terror to the 
Persians than his father had been. He took Ispahan, im- 
prisoned Hussein, and declared himself Shah. But the son 
of Hussein, Tahmasp, succeeded in escaping from his hands, 
and determined to try conclusions with him. Feeling, how- 
ever, that he had hardly an adequate force, he asked the 
Russian Tsar and the Sultan of Turkey for assistance. Peter 
resolved to help him for various reasons. The supporters of 
Mahmoud kept the Caucasus in a continual state of agitation ; 
gangs of robbers plundered the Russian merchants without 
hindrance, and in Shemahia alone murdered 300 men ; and 
the Russian silk-trade was almost extinguished. Moreover, 
Peter had discovered that the Sultan was about to send 
forces into the Persian provinces, not so much with a view of 
co-operating with Tahmasp as of establishing Turkish rule 
between the Black and Caspian Seas. 

This was a disagreeable prospect for the Russians. Volinski 
ascertained that the Persian troops were in a very disaffected 
condition ; that the Shah had rewarded the Khan of Khiva 
for the murder of Bekovich, and that the Persians were ex- 
pecting an attack from the Russian forces. Thinking to 
settle the matter by a decisive blow Peter set out in person. 
He had been urged to do so by Volinski, who was now 
Governor of Astrakhan. He started towards the end of 
May 1722, taking with him the Empress, who had accom- 
panied him in so many journeys, Admiral Apraksin, Tolstoi, 
and Prince Kantemir. Apraksin had been chief admiral 
since the death of Golovin. His services to Peter had been 
great, and among other things he had been instrumental in 
saving St Petersburg from the Swedes in the earliest days of 
its existence. Of Tolstoi and Kantemir we have already 
heard. Peter had issued a proclamation to the effect that 
he had only come to chastise those who had attacked and 
plundered the Russians. 



1722] THE REIGN OF PETER 87 

On the first appearance of the invaders, Tarki, the capital 
of Shakhmat, and the fortified port of Derbent, surrendered 
without a struggle. The Tsar now moved on to Baku, the 
inhabitants of which sent messengers to welcome him and to 
entreat him to take them under his protection. But unfore- 
seen events necessitated the return of the army to Astrakhan. 
He accordingly left a garrison in Derbent and built a fort on 
the river Sulak. He found that a storm had scattered his 
ships and that the army was in imminent danger of famine. 
At Astrakhan he had a violent attack of illness, but he used 
his enforced leisure to make arrangements for the eventual 
acquisition of these districts ; and he eventually got possession 
of Resht, situated at the south of the Caspian. It was on 
July 19, 1722, that the Russian flag first waved over that sea. 

When the Tsar returned to St Petersburg, an ambassador 
came to him from Tahmasp to negotiate a defensive treaty. 
In the name of the Shah he ceded to Russia the towns 
Derbent and Baku, and the districts of Gilyan, Mazanderan, 
and Astrabad. Peter, on his part, promising to send a body 
of troops to assist Tahmasp, Turkey viewed with disapproval 
the interference of Russia in the affairs of Persia; but was 
pacified when Peter consented that she should occupy Georgia, 
the country of the Lesghians, the Tavlintses, Lower Daghestan, 
and a part of Shirvan. 

Tahmasp, however, did not confirm the treaty made by his 
ambassador in St Petersburg, and the Russian soldiers who 
occupied Gilyan were as much called upon to defend them- 
selves against his supporters as against the allies of Mir- 
Mahmoud. Peter was not prepared to give up his acquisitions 
on the southern shores of the Caspian, and was only pre- 
vented from carrying out his designs by his premature death. 
Thus we see Russia expanding in every direction through 
the vigorous measures of this great Tsar. The Turks kept 
intriguing against her, assisted from time to time by some 
of the European Powers, for the Eastern Question was now 
fast developing itself. In 1724 Peter succeeded in effect- 
ing arrangements for a demarcation of frontier between the 



SS A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1721 

Russian and Turkish provinces, and Rumiantsov was sent 
to Constantinople to ratify the treaty. Peter allowed many 
Armenians to settle in his new territories. 

We now come to the dealings of Peter with Holstein- 
Gottorp, the reigning family of which was to be so closely 
connected with that of Russia. Duke Frederick, the friend 
and coadjutor of Charles XII., lost his life in the battle of 
Klissovo in 1702. He left his possessions to his son (two 
years of age), by his wife, Hedwig Sophia, the elder sister 
of Charles XII. A kinsman of the young duke, the bishop 
of Liibeck, took upon himself the management of affairs, 
and conducted matters successfully till 17 13. He observed 
a strict neutrality at the time of the war in the North after 
the battle of Poltava. When, however, Peter defeated 
Stenbok, the governor gave shelter to the Swedish general 
in Holstein, and permitted him to enter Tonningen. The 
Danish king, who only awaited an occasion to quarrel with 
the duke, declared the proceedings of the governor an in- 
fringement of the neutrality. He accordingly occupied 
Schleswig with his troops. In vain did the duke seek 
protection from Charles XII. on his return from Turkey ; 
the king had not the power to assist his nephew, although 
he loved him as a son, and saw in him his successor. The 
sudden death of Charles took from the duke the last hope 
of getting back his dominions. Deprived of the Swedish 
throne, which belonged to him by right, as the son of the 
eldest sister of Charles, he found a bitter enemy in his aunt 
Ulrika. She deprived him not only of the crown of Sweden, 
but of his hereditary dominion, Schleswig having handed it 
over to the King of Denmark. The duke had tried to procure 
the mediation of the Court of Vienna, which had guaranteed 
the treaty of Travendale. Being, however, disappointed in this 
direction, he betook himself to the Russian Emperor. 

In the beginning of the year 1721 he came to St Peters- 
burg, and there saw Anna, the eldest daughter of Peter, a 
woman of some beauty, and offered her his hand. Peter 
interceded for the nephew of Charles at the congress of 



1721] THE REIGN OE PETER 89 

Nystadt. Among the conditions of peace he demanded 
that the Swedish Government should recognise the rights of 
the duke to the Swedish Crown, and to Schleswig. But 
Ostermann informed the Tsar that there was no hope of 
his end being attained. Ulrika had given her throne to her 
husband, the Prince of Hesse-Cassel, who was making every 
effort to ensure it for his posterity. Moreover, Russia was 
now being threatened by Turkey, and the terms of the peace 
must of necessity be concluded speedily. Peter yielded, but 
promised the young duke that he would, as soon as possible, 
renew his mediation. He kept his word. Soon after the 
treaty of Nystadt, owing to his efforts, the Swedish senate 
recognised the rights of Frederick to the crown of that country, 
and accorded him the title of Royal Highness. When the 
Tsar married his daughter to the duke, he demanded from 
the King of Denmark the restitution of Schleswig. This was 
refused. The Tsar accordingly began to form plans for 
compelling Denmark, with the help of Sweden, and a war 
would certainly have broken out, but all preparations were 
stopped by the premature death of Peter. Anna survived 
her father only three years, dying in 1728. Her child was 
the unfortunate Peter III. 

With the reign of the great Tsar may be said to have 
begun the active interference of the Russians in the affairs 
of Poland, which was one of the chief causes of the break-up 
of that country. She had two vigilant foes, who were resolved 
never to let her rest. The Polish question, with that of 
Sweden and that of Turkey, were the three great political 
problems which Peter found himself called upon to face. 
There had been many disputes between Russia and Poland 
in earlier times ; Bathory had great designs against Ivan the 
Terrible, and was only prevented from parcelling out Russia 
by the mediation of Possevin, the Jesuit. The Poles had 
favoured the attempt of the False Demetrius to get the 
Russian Crown, and Ladislaus, the son of Sigismund III., 
had even sat on the Muscovite throne. We find the Russians 
interfering in favour of the Orthodox Christians in Lithuania. 



90 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1725 

In the time of Alexis Russia had begun to get back some of 
the territory which the Poles had conquered, and Peter inter- 
fered in Polish affairs with a high hand. He supported the 
candidature of Augustus II., as worthless a man as his rival 
Stanislaus Leszczynski was a good one. Prince Gregory 
Dalgorukov, the resident of Peter at Warsaw, even tampered 
with the diet, just as we find Repnin doing in the reign of 
Catherine II. There were not lacking, however, selfish 
magnates who could be influenced by bribes to forward the 
Russian plans. The religious persecutions which the Jesuits 
had introduced gave both to the Prussian king and to Peter 
ample opportunity for interference. 

Peter had always been careless of his person. He had 
fearlessly exposed himself to all climates, and had committed 
many excesses in eating and drinking. When he was about 
fifty years of age his robust constitution began to show signs 
of weakness. He further impaired it by spending much time 
in the marshes superintending the works of the Ladoga Canal, 
accompanied by Munich, who was afterwards to play such an 
important part in Russian history. He also undertook a 
journey into Finland at a very unseasonable time of the year. 
He entered the port of Lachta on the 5th of November 1725, 
and there witnessed the dangers to which some soldiers and 
sailors were exposed in a small vessel. Seeing that they were 
unable to help themselves, he jumped into a skiff, and thence 
into the sea, and so reached the stranded vessel. He 
succeeded in rescuing the crew, at the risk of his life, a 
striking proof that he was a brave, and, on occasion, a 
humane man. But the same night the chill brought on an 
old malady. He fell into a violent fever. Ill, however, as 
he was, his mind was active, and he gave commission to the 
navigator Behring for a voyage. He suffered a great deal, 
but was able to dictate to those round him his last orders. 
He entreated Catherine to protect his Academy of Sciences, 
and to invite learned men to it from other parts of Europe. 
He then pointed out Ostermann to her, saying : " Russia 
cannot do without him ; he is the only man who knows her 



-\ 



1725] THE REIGN OF PETER 91 

real interests." He then, in a calm manner, fixed the time 
during which mourning should be worn for him : and on 
January 28th, about four o'clock in the morning, the end 
came. 

As regards the character of Peter, it has been so often 
depicted — from the point of view both of his admirers and 
detractors — that nothing need be added here. The reader 
will probably be better able to understand the man if he 
reflects that, in spite of all the profound appreciation of 
Western civilisation which Peter showed, there were deep 
traces in him of his Asiatic training — ideas of absolute 
autocracy, and recklessness of human life and suffering. 
When we remember the originality and vigour of his mind, 
we cannot justly refuse him the title of Great. 

Many collections of anecdotes relating to him have been 
published, the two best known being those of Staehlin and 
Nartov. The latter has been published by the Russian 
Academy from a copy which had been handed down in 
manuscript. As an instance of the practical good sense of 
Peter, and his respect for honest labour — no man better than 
he understood the dignity of labour — we might quote the 
story given by Staehlin of how the Tsar paid for a pair of 
boots by working at a forge. It was told by Peter Miiller, 
the son of Werner Miiller, the blacksmith, who figures in the 
story. Staehlin says (we have slightly altered his language to 
suit the present narrative) : On his return to Moscow he 
went to see Werner Miiller, bestowed great praise on his 
establishment, and asked him how much he gave per poud 
for iron in bar furnished by a master blacksmith. "Three 
copecks or an altin," answered Miiller. "Well, then," said 
the Tsar, " I have earned eighteen altins, and I have come 
to be paid." Miiller immediately opened his desk, took out 
eighteen ducats, and counting them before him, said : " It is 
the least that can be given to such a workman as your 
Majesty." But the Tsar refused them: "Take again your 
ducats, and pay me the usual price ; I have worked no better 
than another blacksmith, and this will serve to buy me a pair 



92 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1725 

of shoes, of which I am in great want." At the same time the 
Tsar showed him those which he wore, which had already 
been soled, and stood in need of repairs. He took the 
eighteen altins, went directly to a shop, and bought a pair of 
shoes. These he took great pleasure in showing on his feet, 
saying to those who were present, " I have earned them well, 
by the sweat of my brow, with hammer and anvil." 

From the testimony even of his enemies, as also of those 
writers who otherwise accord him merit grudgingly, we know 
that he was an affectionate husband to Catherine ; he is con- 
tinually writing letters to her while away, and sending her 
presents. There is a whole series of letters to her, many of 
boyish playfulness, included in the published collections of 
Imperial Epistles. We have already spoken with all plainness 
of the terrible fate of Alexis ; where the half-Oriental autocrat 
seems to have completely prevailed over the father. His 
conduct to his first wife was more in accord with the dictates 
of ordinary humanity, and although not to be justified can be 
explained. It was not a marriage of affection. A wife had 
been found for him by the State, and he never received 
sympathy from a woman of such a different mind and train- 
ing. Although violent in his outbursts of temper, he would 
yield to remonstrance. Staehlin gives us many anecdotes of 
the ways in which Catherine knew how to soothe him, and 
would frequently procure the mitigation of the punishment 
which Peter threatened. Thus Voinarovski, the nephew of 
Mazeppa, who had been condemned to death by Peter, had 
his sentence commuted to banishment through the inter- 
cession of Catherine. The latter, if not a refined woman, 
had strong mother wit and a sympathetic nature. The rough 
soldier's heart of Peter had found some place where to anchor 
itself safely. 

To his friends and co-operators Peter could be just and 
generous. We have seen how he pardoned Menshikov for 
his greed and Sheremetiev for his blunders. Stories are told 
of how he allowed Prince James Dolgoruki to rebuke him 
and oppose his plans when he thought them mischievous. 



1725] THE REIGN OF PETER 93 

Dolgoruki seems to have been a man of strong common sense 
and great honesty of purpose. Pushkin, in his humorously 
satirical poem, " My Genealogy " (Moya Rodoslovnayd), 
alludes to this fact when speaking of one of his ancestors 
who resisted Peter and was hanged for it, but, he adds, 
" Not everybody is a Prince James Dolgoruki." 

Peter has been accused of cruelty, and it has been re- 
marked that the Russians were knouted into civilisation. 
How far this can be substantiated is problematical. Un- 
doubtedly in the reign of Peter cruel punishments were 
inflicted, but these were common enough throughout Europe 
at the time, and do not necessarily testify to the Tatar nature 
which has been said to lurk in every Russian. Breaking on 
the wheel was an ordinary form of punishment on the Con- 
tinent, and prevailed in France till the time of the Revolu- 
tion. Russia never witnessed anything more atrocious than 
the execution in 1757 of Damiens at Paris, at that time the 
most civilised capital in the world ; and we have already 
mentioned the punishment inflicted upon Patkul by Charles 
XII. It was one of Peter's barbaric habits to cane people 
with his own hands. Carlyle has recorded how the father of 
Frederick the Great caned a man on the parade at Potsdam 
for contemplating the exercises of the troops with idle 
curiosity. We read in the accounts of Peter's travels that he 
was in the habit of belabouring with his thick oak stick those 
who approached too near to him. Cook, the Scotch surgeon, 
who was for some years in Russia, tells us how, finding that 
one of his captains had behaved with ingratitude to his father, 
" that wise and wonderful Prince called for his dubine " (this 
was an oak stick kept in a scarlet cloth and carried by a 
servant), "and with this chastised the unworthy son." 

Staehlin, who was for^ some time a tutor in Russia to the 
unfortunate Duke of Holstein, afterwards Peter III., relates 
how the Empress Elizabeth would frequently come into the 
room, while he was working with her nephew, and would talk 
about her father. He says, " As she was pleased to hear her 
illustrious father spoken of, and never mentioned him without 



94 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1726 

emotion, she often took occasion to speak of the regret he 
publicly expressed at the neglect of his education, and at his 
never having been taught any science. She said that he came 
often to her room and those of her sisters to see how they 
passed their time, and that he seldom went away without 
giving them good advice. " He often," added she, " required 
an account of what I had learned in the course of the day ; 
and when he was satisfied with my answer gave me com- 
mendations, accompanied by a kiss and sometimes by a 
present." On another occasion, seeing her nephew carefully 
studying fortifications, she said: "See what noble amuse- 
ments we may enjoy when we apply (sic) to a science or after 
it is acquired. I recollect what my father often repeated on 
this subject. He would have given one of his fingers that his 
education had not been neglected. Not a day passed in 
which he did not feel his deficiency. One day when he found 
myself and my sister reading the works of Mme. Lambert and 
translating them into the Russian tongue as we went on, he 
told us that we were very fortunate to have had a taste for 
reading given us at so early an age and to have received so 
good an education. " It is an advantage," added he, " of 
which I much lament the privation." 

In fact, such education as Peter could have got in Russia 
in his youth must necessarily have been of a most rudimentary 
description. We can guess its character from the works of 
Mr Zabielin. This writer tells us that the primers, from 
which the Tsar's children were taught, were in manuscript 
certainly till the middle of the seventeenth century. Nothing 
is known of the earliest primers, because not a copy of them 
has survived. The first was printed at Moscow in 1634 by 
Basil Burtsov. He seems to have derived the plan of it from 
that printed in 1621 at Vilna, a city which, we must remember, 
was at that time under the government of Poland, and there- 
fore in closer touch with Western culture. In these old 
primers are curious Alexandrine verses admonishing boys 
how they ought to behave. Spelling, reading portions of the 
Bible, and writing, comprised the whole curriculum, with the 



1725] THE REIGN OF PETER 95 

possible exception of some oral arithmetic. Many of Peter's 
letters have been preserved, and have occasionally been 
quoted in the course of our narrative. His orthography 
and handwriting are alike very bad, even if we make due 
allowance for the fanciful cursive character in vogue at that 
period. The names of foreign places are invariably mis- 
spelled. 

From many stories, we can gather that Peter took no 
delight in bloodshed or torment. When present in Paris at 
an operation performed upon a man's eye, it was observed 
that he turned bis look away at the moment when the surgeon 
applied the knife. Staehlin reports, on the testimony of a 
lady who was present, that when Peter took the town of 
Narva by assault in 1704, his troops were so furious and 
exasperated by the length of the siege that they forgot all 
discipline, and pillaged indiscriminately. The Emperor was 
obliged to check their violence by wounding some with his 
own hands. He afterwards repaired to the citadel, and 
Count Horn, the Swedish commander, was brought as a 
prisoner before him. In the first transports of his rage the 
Emperor actually struck him. "It is you alone," he said, 
"who has caused so much blood to be shed. You ought 
long ago to have capitulated, as you could hope for no 
assistance, and had no means of saving the place. Behold 
this blood," added he, throwing his sword on the table, " it is 
not the blood of your Swedes, but of my own soldiers. With 
this sword I restrained their fury and saved the inhabitants of 
the city from the slaughter to which your thoughtless obstinacy 
had devoted them." A curious story of his clemency is 
recorded by Staehlin, which reflects much credit upon him. 
He was one day on the square before the Admiralty reviewing 
some newly-enrolled sailors. Suddenly he started, and ordered 
one of them to be taken into custody. The sailor, fully 
understanding what was in the Tsar's mind, fell at his feet, 
and entreated his clemency, confessing that he had deserved 
death. The bystanders were surprised, but the cause of their 
amazement was explained when the sailor confessed to the 



96 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1725 

Tsar that he had been a strelits, and was the man who had 
threateningly held a sword over the head of Peter when he 
had fled to the Troitsa. He added that he was young at the 
time, and had only just joined their corps. He had deserted 
them before they were brought to punishment, and had, in 
the interval, been wandering about in a miserable condition. 
He had offered himself to the Admiralty as a peasant arrived 
from Siberia, and had done his duty like an honest man till 
that moment. The Tsar pardoned him, but forbade him ever 
to appear before him. The sailor thanked the Emperor 
for his clemency, and was sent off to serve in a remote 
province. 

It remains to consider the constitutional and other changes 
introduced by Peter into Russia. 

(1) And first of his Church reforms. The great powers 
given to the Patriarch could not have been acceptable to a 
man imbued with such truly autocratic ideas as Peter was. 
He must in his youth have heard much of the controversies 
between his father and the pugnacious Nikon, who had so 
nearly carried his point, and elevated the authority of the 
Church above that of the throne. In the Protestant coun- 
tries which he visited during his travels, and notably in 
England, Peter could not help realising that the Sovereign was 
regarded as the head of the Church, and had a substantial con- 
trol over religious matters, and the instruction had not been 
lost upon him. As we have seen, when Adrian the patriarch 
died he did not appoint a successor. He did not wish to see 
the patriarchate continued with the same powers. He felt 
that in that case his attempts to regenerate Russia would 
be impeded, for Adrian had been a strong reactionary. A 
metropolitan was accordingly appointed, and the supreme 
religious authority was not concentrated as before in one 
person ; the regulation of ecclesiastical matters was now en- 
trusted to a newly-created synod. The Dukhovni Reglament 
marked out with definite precision the rights and duties of 
the clergy, and also the limits of their power and responsi- 
bilities. A procurator (Ober-prokuror) was appointed from 



1725] THE REIGN OF PETER 97 

among the civil functionaries, who had similar authority to 
that of the general procurator in the Senate. It was his duty 
to see that matters were properly conducted and that the 
laws were carried out; according to the expression of the 
Tsar, he was " his eye." 

Another reform was the appointment of civilians to investi- 
gate the ecclesiastical revenues, some of which in the modern 
spirit Peter wished to divert to schools and hospitals. Finally 
he conceived the idea, afterwards attempted by Peter III., 
and fully carried out by Catherine II., of taking over 
the ecclesiastical revenues and making them national pro- 
perty, fixed stipends being assigned to the clergy. During 
the reign of Peter there was a very prevalent desire 
in ecclesiastical circles in England to bring about a union 
between the Anglican and Greek Churches. The latter, 
however, on this, as on subsequent occasions, refused to 
make any concessions to the Anglicans, and thus matters 
have remained in statu quo. In nothing does the bold 
character of Peter stand out more prominently than in his 
ecclesiastical reforms. These drastic changes could have 
only been carried out by an iron will, for, as has been well 
remarked, although the Russian is politically so docile, he is 
unfettered in his religious convictions and goes his own way. 
This is amply evidenced by the great number of religious 
sects in Russia, the staro-obriadtsi and hundreds of others, who 
have undergone the most terrible persecutions rather than 
give up their special forms of creed or ritual. It is gratifying 
to be able to add that Peter displayed toleration towards 
some of these sectarians. M. Smirnov has shown, in his 
studies of the Mordvinians and other Ugro-Finnish races, 
that Peter was entirely opposed to the violent and wholesale 
"conversions" which the priests were supposed to be carry- 
ing on. Of course as an innovator, toleration was, in the 
nature of things, to be expected of him. Some writers have 
not hesitated to call him a free-thinker. Perhaps this view 
is based upon his gibes and constant satires upon monks and 
monkish ways. In the life of Golovin, the Russian boyar, 

G 



98 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i7H 

by Mr Shubinski, we are told how the father was summoned 
to St Petersburg in order that he might build his town house 
there as the majority of the nobility were doing. Peter dis- 
liked him on account of his superstition, and when he saw 
him, said : " We don't want you here, monk ; be orland send 
your son in your stead." 

(2) Another great reform of Peter's was the reorganisation 
of the ranks of the nobility. The word dvoriamn (nobleman) 
before this time had signified a person holding a rank between 
a stolnik (who attended the Tsar at his table) and a zhilets 
{lit, householder), used in a technical sense to mean a man 
who resided at Moscow and could be employed by the Tsar 
on military service. It was now used to signify a man who 
had obtained the rights to distinction either by his own 
services or the services of his ancestors. In 1722 Peter had 
divided all officials into fourteen classes. He further declared 
that the rank of superior officer in the military service, and in 
the case of civilians the eighth class should confer an hereditary 
right of nobility, even though those who received it might 
have been of plebeian origin. This right was also conceded 
to those persons who could show that they were descended 
from noble families who had served their country in honour- 
able callings. The descendants of these noble families could 
not acquire the right of alienation over their immovable 
property until they had served seven years in the army or ten 
years in a civil capacity. Had these rules not been complied 
with they remained till old age nedorosli, minors. 

In the year 17 14 Peter issued a memorable ukaz, the 
terms of which, however, were afterwards changed by the 
Empress Anne. According to this, a nobleman had not the 
right of selling or mortgaging his land, but was compelled to 
leave it in its entirety to some one of his sons, whichever he 
preferred ; his money and chattels were to go to his other 
children. The object of this law was to prevent the partition 
of family estates, which, according to Peter's idea, was both 
prejudicial to the nobles themselves, who thereby fell into 
poverty, and also to the State, which lost its revenues. He 



1725] THE REIGN OF PETER 99 

hoped by keeping estates in the hands of one individual to 
augment the class of industrial and learned workers. He 
hoped, also, that those members of noble families who had 
no land would seek professional callings, and in other ways 
make use of their brains, so that in this way a middle class 
might be gradually created. There can hardly be said to 
have existed a middle class in Russia before the time of 
Peter ; it was one of his aims to create one. Had a reformer 
with similar ideas appeared in Poland, the downward course 
of that unfortunate country might probably have been 
stopped. It was the development of a middle class which 
had enabled the nations of the West to outgrow their feudal 
institutions. Unfortunately in the case of Poland the position 
of the middle classes was occupied by aliens — to wit, Germans 
and Jews. The former were to be found in Russia, though 
to a less extent, while the latter hardly existed at all ; their 
development is explained by the special agricultural ten- 
dencies of the Slav, as in the case of the Celt. 

(3) Another reformation of Peter's was to give protection to 
the merchant class. These were divided into guilds, as were 
the artisans into corporations. There has been always a 
tendency among Russian mechanics and other craftsmen to 
form themselves into artels, as they are called, living together 
and having a common table. The development of a profes- 
sional class was of course a slower matter. For a long time 
the Russians looked upon a physician or surgeon as a wizard 
or medicine man, and indeed that is the first meaning of 
the word vratch, now in such common use. From the time 
of Ivan the Terrible foreign medical men had occasionally 
visited the country, often exposing themselves to great perils. 
During the reign of that sovereign the Dutch physician Bome- 
lius was put to death for supposed intrigues with the King 
of Poland. During the riot of the streltsi, on the accession 
of Peter, the mob had murdered another Dutch physician, 
looking upon him as a wizard. The one safe place for 
these foreigners was the Niemetskaya Sloboda, which was 
called derisively by the common people nalei, because it was 



ioo A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1725 

the place where intoxicating liquors could be obtained during 
the time of the severe fasts of the Orthodox Church. But to 
find the middle class substantially benefited by reform, we 
must wait till the nakaz of Catherine II. 

(4) Of the condition of the serfs under Peter we have already 
spoken. 

The Tsar had planned an academy, and the outlines of 
it were submitted by him to Leibnitz, whom he had occa- 
sionally met during his travels in Germany. Leibnitz is said 
to have entirely approved of his plans. But they were not 
destined to be carried out until Peter was in his grave. We 
have already spoken of his practice of sending young men out 
of Russia to be educated. Even at the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century this method of training citizens had been adopted 
by Boris Godunov. The latter sent four young men to England. 
Peter also caused a number of useful books to be written, 
and others to be translated into Russian. He started, too, 
the first Russian newspaper; and he even modified the 
Slavonic alphabet, making it more suitable for printing by 
rejecting some of the useless letters. 

We have already spoken of the Russian Grammar published 
at Oxford. It was written in Latin by Henry Ludolf. The 
dialogues contained in it are curious. The Russian lan- 
guage, in its modern form, was then slowly developing itself 
out of the Church Slavonic. The Russians, then, too, first 
became familiar with arithmetic by the publication of the work 
of Magnitski, which has been regarded as one of the greatest 
curiosities of Peter's press. A very marked change then 
came over the literature of Russia. Such literature as she 
had previously had consisted chiefly of dry chronicles, 
hymns, and lives of saints. The new literature was to 
take form upon French models, as was only natural. It 
begins with Antioch Kantemir (1 708-1 744), the son of that 
Demetrius with whom Peter had been brought into contact 
at the time of the disastrous expedition on the Pruth. 
Kantemir was ambassador at the courts of St James and 
Versailles. He was evidently well acquainted with the 



1725] THE REIGN OF PETER 101 

writings of Pope and Boileau, and he also translated 
Fontenelle on the plurality of worlds. His poetry being 
imitative, took the form of satire, which is, in reality, rather 
a late stage of literary development, in that it implies a 
nation sufficiently strong and self-confident to criticise itself. 

Kantemir's satires have a good deal of merit and appear 
to have attracted attention even in other countries, a trans- 
lation of them into French verse having been published in 
London in 1750. The author was, doubtless, a well-read man 
and had a good library ■ for among the papers concerning 
him, which Prof. Aleksandrenko of Warsaw found in Paris, is 
a list of his books made when they were about to be sent 
back to Russia after his decease. Among them we find the 
names of many English authors. 

Libraries of considerable magnitude were now beginning 
to be formed in Russia. Thus we are told that Dmetri 
Golitsin had a large library at Arkhangelskoe, near Moscow. 
A little later on we hear of the great number of books 
belonging to Volinski, a prominent man of the days of 
Peter, and Governor of Astrakhan. Nor was Peter lacking 
in interest in literature for its own sake. On his second tour 
as he passed through Rheims, he saw there the celebrated 
Texte du Sacre, the book upon which the French kings took 
the oath at their coronation. This curious volume, consist- 
ing of religious extracts partly in Glagolitic and partly in 
Cyrillic letters, appears to have originally belonged to a 
monastery founded by the Emperor Charles IV. at Prague. 
Afterwards in some unexplained way it was taken to Con- 
stantinople and was there purchased by a French cardinal. 
It seems to have been regarded by the French kings as a 
kind of sacred hieroglyphic, for no one clearly knew in what 
language it was written. When Peter saw it he is reported 
to have at once read it, saying, "This is my own Slavonic." 
At the time of the Revolution the book disappeared, having 
probably been carried off on account of the precious stones 
which adorned the cover. When it afterwards was found it 
had been stripped of its gorgeous binding. 



102 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1713 

Of the foundation of the new capital by Peter we have 
already spoken. It was more than a window through which 
to look at Europe, as Algarotti said. It secured to the ship- 
building Tsar a certain amount of coast line and the necessary 
outlet for his fleet. The acquisition of a footing upon the 
Black Sea, which was at' first a Turkish but has now become 
a Russian lake, was not to follow till later. It was in 17 13 
that St Petersburg was for the most part built ten years after 
the foundations had been laid. Here he was to symbolise 
the return of Russia to her old position as a European state 
before the iron-yoke of the Mongols had been laid upon her. 
It was a costly business and perhaps was not in all respects 
a wise one having regard to the proximity of the sea and the 
great risk of inundation as events proved, indeed, in the 
time of Alexander I. The ground could not be safely built 
upon till vast piles had been driven into it : even now build- 
ings occasionally sink, and the magnificent cathedral of St 
Isaac has lately had to have its foundations strengthened. 
The city lies amid marshes on the left bank of the Neva, 
which flows from Lake Ladoga into the Baltic. Here were 
originally to be seen a few huts of Finnish fishermen grouped 
around the pillar erected by Gustavus Adolphus after the 
treaty of Stolbovo in 161 7 to mark his triumphant treaty 
with the Russians and to fix a limit to their progress. The 
ground upon which the pillar stood is now comprised within 
the heart of the city. 

Peter's new creation consisted of a series of buildings in 
the Dutch style, then so prevalent throughout Europe. To 
build it as many as 40,000 labourers were employed, brought, 
in many cases, from the most remote parts of the Empire. 
Hither were sent many of the refractory Cossacks after Peter 
had quelled the rebellion. On occasion, too, he would stop 
all work at the quarries throughout the Empire so that the 
qnarrymen and stone masons might be available for St 
Petersburg. Many of these workmen perished by disease, 
as the climate was unhealthy on account of the marshes, and 
even now the inhabitants cannot be said to enjoy longevity. 



1725] THE REIGN OF PETER 103 

It is said that the population would noticeably shrink if it were 
not for the large importation of foreigners and people 
from other parts of Russia, seeking their fortunes in the 
metropolis. Inundations occurred from time to time during 
the building of the city, and it became necessary to raise 
the level of the ground by the formation of vast mounds. 
Finally, the canals of Vishnevolotski and Ladoga had to be 
constructed. 

Thus sprang into existence the majestic city of Petersburg 
rising over the waters with her tiara of proud towers, a symbol 
of Russia's advancing strides along the paths of civilisation. 
The poetic aspect of the scene was much enhanced when 
the French sculptor Falconet in the reign of Catherine II. 
accomplished its crowning ornament — a striking equestrian 
statue of Peter the Great. There the great Reformer, from 
a mighty block of granite, points triumphantly to the city 
which he has called into being from the waters. And we 
feel that we are standing in the presence and surrounded 
by the creations of a master-mind. 

Like Napoleon in later years, Peter showed himself a true 
judge of men and continued to gather round him, regardless 
of social and other considerations, the most capable fellow- 
workers, for whom he searched everywhere, not disdaining 
to take them from the lowest social positions when he saw 
their capacity. These were his eaglets (ptentsi) ; these were 
the men he had trained, some foreigners and some Russians 
who had shaken off the prejudices and superstitions of their 
race and were ready to dare great things ; and if we would 
know Peter thoroughly we must understand these men also. 
They form a motley group • some died before their great 
master; those who survived him were enabled to carry on 
his work. Not all of them indeed have escaped belittlement 
at the hands of posterity; but it is enough that these 
foreigners and Russians conferred signal benefits upon the 
country, and their memories must be tenderly dealt with. 
Magna voluisse magnum. These men who bore the heat 
and burden of the day were very different to some of the 



104 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1725 

later adventurers of the times of Anne and Elizabeth and 
even of the great Catherine who came to Russia to make 
a career and acquire opulence. These latter too often loaded 
the country where they had failed with abuse as soon as 
they found themselves safely beyond the frontiers, and it 
is from them that many of the anecdotes to the discredit 
of Russia have emanated. 

The "Eaglets" of Peter have been already mentioned in 
their respective places. Let it suffice here to recall the 
names of the Swiss Lefort who taught Peter in his youth 
but died before the end of the century and was not destined 
to witness the full glories of his great pupil; of Patrick 
Gordon who also predeceased him ; of Sheremetiev, Menshikov, 
Apraksin, Golitsin and Golovkin. During the latter part of 
Peter's reign Menshikov, who had at one time enjoyed his 
unbounded favour, began to lose his influence. After the 
peace of Nystadt he was made vice-admiral. Being left head 
of the Senate during Peter's absence on the Persian ex- 
pedition Menshikov incurred the Tsar's displeasure by his 
unseemly quarrel with Shafirov. When the latter was con- 
demned, the Tsar could not be blind to the faults of his 
former favourite. He was subjected to a severe examination 
and was deprived of the Presidency of the Military College ; 
and his final disgrace was imminent at the time of Peter's 
death. But he was still to play a very important part in 
the destinies of Russia. Sheremetiev had been on the ex- 
pedition against the Tatars in 1681, and was at one time 
a favourite with Sophia the Tsar's sister. 

Count Golovkin, one of the Tsar's most important diplo- 
matists, was his inseparable companion in all his expeditions. 
He watched over the relations of Russia with foreign courts 
in the capacity of Imperial Chancellor. Baron Shafirov 
performed important services to Russia in concluding the 
treaty of the Pruth and preventing Turkey from utilising 
the advantage which Peter by his carelessness had enabled 
her to seize. Shafirov was of Jewish origin, but had 
become a Christian. His original name was SchafTer, i.e. 



1725] THE REIGN OF PETER 105 

the agent. He was made a baron in 171 1. In the last 
years of the reign of the Tsar he fell into disfavour and was 
deprived of his titles. He was sentenced to be beheaded in 
1723, but pardoned. 

Concerning Ostermann, another of the Tsar's co-operators, 
we shall hear a great deal more in the subsequent reigns. It 
will suffice to say here that he was a diplomatist in the truest 
sense of the word, and had been the moving spirit in the 
congresses of the Aland islands and Nystadt. Another clever 
diplomatist was Jagushinski, of whom also we shall hear again 
in the course of our narrative. 

In treating of the creation of the Russian navy, the great 
services of Admiral Apraksin call for special mention. He 
was born in 167 1 and died in 1728. He distinguished him- 
self alike in the Black Sea and the Baltic, and in 1722 he 
accompanied Peter in his Persian campaign and was the first 
to fly an admiral's flag in the Caspian Sea. 

How great a part was played by Englishmen and Dutch- 
men in the formation of Peter's navy appears from a contem- 
porary account by an Englishman who must have been in his 
service, which has recently been published from the original 
manuscript by the Navy Records Society (" History of the 
Russian Fleet during the Reign of Peter the Great," by a 
contemporary Englishman, 1724. London, 1899). It has 
been supposed that the author was Captain John Deane. As, 
however, that person is mentioned without any comment in 
the course of the narrative, it is hardly possible that such 
can have been the case. Here we find lists of Peter's ships 
and their commanders, and many curious notes on minute 
matters concerned with his navy. We are continually told 
of ships being sent from Holland and England. In 1713 
we have details of the punishment of some of Peter's officers 
for not having successfully resisted the Swedes. Apraksin 
was the president of the court-martial, at which Vice-Admiral 
Cruys for neglect of duty in 17 12 and 17 13 was sentenced to 
death, but Peter mitigated the punishment and ordered his 
banishment to Kazan. When this was read over to him in 



106 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1713 

"Hollands" (i.e. Hollandsch = Dutch), the accused replied, 
with a bow, "What His Majesty pleases." Captain Schel- 
tinga was then sentenced to serve as youngest captain during 
His Majesty's pleasure. Last of all, Captain Ray's sentence 
was published; he had not made use of an excellent oppor- 
tunity to take or destroy three ships of the enemy. He was 
condemned to be conducted to the place of execution and 
shot. In pursuance of the sentence he was led directly to 
the post, which was but a few paces distant, and a file of 
musketeers being ready, the word of command was given to 
present arms ; then the Tsar's pardon was read, and his sen- 
tence was commuted into perpetual banishment to Siberia. 
"The fear of death," says the writer, "had seized him with 
that violence that when they lifted up his cap from over his 
eyes, and took him up from his knees, he said in the Russian 
tongue : 'Luchey Polley' (i.e. Lucks he pali), ' 'tis better shoot 
me.' He was carried to an adjacent house and let blood, 
and in two or three days' time sent into exile, where, lingering 
a few years, he died in Siberia." He had never quite re- 
covered from the effects of his fright. Peter appears to have 
habitually dealt in a summary way with his officers, as witness 
his treatment of Jansen, who had played the traitor at the 
siege of Azov. 

The court-martial which has just been described was con- 
stituted to enquire into the conduct of the Russian captains 
in what really seems to have been the first engagement at sea 
between the Russians and the Swedes. The Swedish account 
as quoted by Vice- Admiral Cyprian Bridge is as follows :— " In 
July 1 7 13, a squadron under Vice-Admiral Erik Johan Lillie's 
command went to Helsingfors, and from that squadron three 
ships — one of 56, one of 54, and one of 48 guns — were sent 
for a cruise under Commodore Karl Raab's command. After 
this division had taken several prizes, and had reconnoitred the 
enemy's position at Revel, it anchored off Hogland (an island 
in the Baltic) on July 10. On the next morning at sunrise, 
the Russian fleet, of fourteen ships of the line and frigates, was 
seen coming from the eastward with a fair wind ; and, as 



1703] THE REIGN OF PETER 107 

Raab could not involve himself in a fight with an enemy so 
superior, he kept off and ordered his ships to support each 
other as well as they could. The Russians had begun to 
chase the Swedes at half-past two in the morning, but the 
latter replied so heavily to the Russian fire that two Russian 
ships were soon dismasted. A third had to lie-to to stop a 
bad leak ; but the Viborg, the Russian vice-admiral's ship, 
came close up to the Swedish ships, and somewhat later the 
Russian admiral's ship, Moskva, also the remaining Russian 
ships were worse sailers and were much further astern. The 
chase was continued till eight o'clock, when the Swedish 
senior officer's ship, Osel, ran on a shoal ; but Raab set all 
sail and succeeded in getting over the bank; the Moskva, 
however (we see from the text that it was the Viborg), stuck 
so fast that she could not be got off, so that after the crew 
had been saved, the Russians themselves set fire to their flag- 
ship. The Viborg also grounded, but less heavily. In the 
meantime, Raab, with his ships, succeeded in getting to 
Helsingfors." (Backstrom, "Svenska Flottans Historia," page 
178.) The first actual contact with the Swedes at sea had 
been in 1703. In this year the Russians took and razed 
to the ground Nienschantz, a small town and garrison, and 
sent the inhabitants to live in different parts of Russia. A 
squadron of Swedish ships of war arrived at the island Retu- 
sari which was the Finnish name of Kotlin Ostrov. They 
were ignorant of what had happened at Nienschantz, and sent 
two vessels to enquire into the state of the garrison. About 
two miles up the river they saw the Russian army on both 
sides, and perceived that the place was taken. They stayed 
however for some time making observations even in the 
face of the enemy. The Tsar thereupon ordered a certain 
number of men in lodki or boats to wait at the bar the 
return of the Swedes. This was a place full of shoals with- 
out beacons to direct the ships, and abounding with sand- 
banks. All which circumstances favoured the Russians. The 
Swedes observed the lodki and determined to return to their 
fleet, but when they reached the bar were attacked by the 



io8 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i7H 

Russians, who poured " incessant volleys of shot from every 
quarter." The Swedish vessels made a brave defence, but 
were captured after a desperate resistance, and not until 
most of the men had been killed. Immediately after the 
surrender, the Tsar came on board one, and finding the mate 
who had commanded the boats alive, ordered care to be 
taken of his wounds. He ultimately recovered and entered 
the Tsar's service. His name, according to the record of the 
anonymous Englishman, was Karl van Werden. The Tsar, 
he goes on to say, thought this affair a good omen although 
it was but a trivial skirmish. 

Another naval defeat of the Swedes took place at Hango 
Head in 17 14, a place destined to be heard of afterwards 
during the Crimean war. 

The following members of the Royal Family were alive at 
the time of Peter's death. It is necessary to keep this list 
clearly in mind, in order to be able to understand the confused 
and disputed successions which were to follow : — 

(1) The Empress Catherine, his second wife. The divorced 
Eudoxia was still in existence, but confined in a nunnery. 
At the time of Peter's death she was not regarded as having 
any right in connection with the imperial family. 

(2) Three children by Peter's second marriage — the Prin- 
cesses Elizabeth, Natalia, and Anna — the last-named being 
married to Karl Friedrich of Holstein Gottorp. 

(3) Two children of Alexis, Peter's son by his first wife, 
viz., Peter and Natalia. 

(4) Of the children of Ivan, the brother of Peter, there 
remained three, viz. : — 

(a) Catherine, who was married on Peter's second journey 
through Europe, at Danzig, to Karl Leopold, Duke of 
Mecklenburg. This marriage had turned out a very un- 
happy one, and ended in Catherine living apart from 
her husband. She continued to reside in St Petersburg, 
where we shall hear more about her subsequently. She 
was the mother of the unhappy Anna Leopoldovna, who 
became the mother of the infant Emperor Ivan VI., and 



1725] THE REIGN OF PETER 109 

died in Kholmogori. Her husband was Anthony Ulrich, 
Prince of Brunswick. 

(b) Anna, afterwards Empress, married Frederick, Duke 
of Courland, and (c) another daughter. The mother of these 
last two ladies, and widow of the Tsar Ivan, died in 1723. 



[1725 



CHAPTER IV 

THE REIGNS OF CATHERINE I. AND PETER II. 

HP HE antecedents of the Empress Catherine have already 
■*- been alluded to. In our own times very minute in- 
vestigations have been made into the subject; and it seems 
to be established that her real name was Marfa (Martha) 
Skavronskaya, and that she was a Lithuanian or Livonian 
peasant. She is supposed to have been the daughter of one 
Samuel Skavronski, and to have been born about 1683. As 
her father died when she was still quite an infant, she was 
adopted by a Protestant clergyman named Gliick who treated 
her rather as a humble dependent than as one of his family. 
She is said to have married a Swedish dragoon, of whom we 
know nothing except that his Christian name was Johan. 
When the Swedes were compelled to evacuate Marienburg, 
where Gliick' resided, Martha was taken as a prisoner to the 
house of SheFemetiev who bore, as we have seen, the leading 
part in the wars in the Baltic provinces. Here Menshikov 
saw her and is said to have purchased her as a servant 
for his wife. Afterwards Peter saw her at the house of 
Menshikov and fell in love with her. The great monarch 
was somewhat irregular in these matters it must be confessed, 
and Catherine did not attain to the position of a wife still 
less to that of a tsaritsa for some time afterwards. It is 
difficult to understand exactly what charms Peter saw in her. 
She is universally described as having been a homely person. 
She seems, however, to have been a cheerful woman who 
knew how to humour the caprices of her husband and to 
soothe him in times of weariness or illness. His love for 
her appears to have been a genuine passion, and he probably 



1725] CATHERINE I. AND PETER II. in 

with his Oriental notions considered that it did not matter 
from what rank of life he took a mistress or a wife. Like 
Eastern despots he could make and unmake at pleasure. 
His whole life was a rebellion against convention and 
authority. He did not like the restrictions of a court and 
the isolation in which women lived under the old Muscovite 
regime, when neither the tsaritsa nor her daughters could 
dine with the Tsar, but languished in the terem. 

It was in 1705 that Martha, then aged twenty-three years, 
began to live with Peter. She entered the Orthodox Church 
and received the name of Catherine. As Peter was con- 
tinually obliged to be absent, it is not a little curious to note, 
in the letters which have been preserved, the ever increasing 
tenderness with which he writes to her. In the first years 
Peter calls her simply "Mother"; from 1709 onwards he 
adds a tender greeting, and sometimes uses the Dutch word 
moeder. 

We have already called attention to the fondness of Peter 
for occasionally employing Dutch words, as that was the 
only language which he knew besides his own. His tone 
becomes more endearing at the end of 17 n, because in that 
year he had made her his wife. Very many of these letters 
purport to have been accompanied by presents which furnish 
evidence of the warmth of his affection for her. In 17 10 
her public reception into the Russian Church took place 
under the name of Yekaterina Alexievna, in 1710 she was 
styled Gosudarina, and in 1 7 1 1 she was publicly married to 
the Tsar. Peter did not take her with him to Paris, fearing, 
maybe, that his homely wife would suffer by contrast with 
the elegant Parisian ladies ; so also when, during that 
journey, he had a meeting at Stettin with the King of 
Prussia and at Altona with the King of Denmark Catherine 
was not present. She joined him, however, at Schwerin and 
he took her with him to Rostock. Her daughter Elizabeth 
was, according to the Tsar's intention, to become the wife of 
Louis XV. if the union could be brought about ; but we are 
told that the French considered such a marriage derogatory 



ii2 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1725 

to their king, seeing that her mother was of such humble 
origin. However, the idea was for a long while in the air. 
When Louis did marry, at the age of fifteen, a union was 
by court intrigues arranged with the daughter of the wise 
and good Stanislaus Leszczynski, but the marriage was 
equally a mesalliance as Stanislaus was a king without a 
kingdom. 

On the death of the great Tsar the Court was divided into 
two sharply outlined parties. The reactionaries, who still 
looked with no favourable eyes upon Peter's reforms, wished 
to raise to the throne Peter, the son of Alexis, a mere 
boy. On the other hand the progressives, with Menshikcv 
at their head, favoured the succession of Catherine, hoping 
to attain through her both power for themselves and the 
continued development of European civilisation in Russia. 
Peter the Great made no will : Catherine, however, was a 
favourite with the army. In some of the old pictures we see 
her wearing a cocked hat and in the dress in which she 
appeared at the head of her own regiment. Despite the fact, 
therefore, that the idea of a female sovereign was strange 
to the Russian mind, the government of a woman never 
having been known in their annals — for Sophia had only 
ventured to rule in the name of her brothers — the party of 
reform eventually triumphed, and Catherine succeeded to the 
throne of her husband. The chief power now lay in the 
hands of Menshikov. The fortunes of this favourite of Peter 
had been at a rather low ebb at the time of the great Tsar's 
death. He was not without petty vices with all his great 
qualities, and we have already spoken of his pride, ostenta- 
tion, and inordinate love of money. Some of his ill-gotten 
wealth Peter had made him give up, and perhaps he would 
have fallen into permanent disgrace if the Tsar- had lived. 
He was now, however, as we have said, all powerful. 
On the accession of Catherine he received a gift of fifty 
thousand peasants, in addition to the town of Baturin, in 
the Ukraine, which had formerly belonged to Mazeppa. 
Readers will remember how, when the perfidy of the arch- 



1727] CATHERINE I. AND PETER II. 113 

traitor was known, Peter had at once sent Menshikov to seize 
Baturin. 

Beyond all question he was the most powerful as well as 
the richest man in Russia at that time, and enjoyed almost 
royal honours; and the future Empress, Anne, the second 
daughter of Ivan V., was married in his house. The reign of 
Catherine was short, lasting little more than two years, and 
comparatively barren of events. 

In 1724 the Academy of Sciences was founded at St Peters- 
burg, and Behring was sent to survey Kamchatka. Peter 
had occupied himself about these matters during the last 
hours of his life. 

The government was administered by a supreme Privy 
Council, as it was termed, which comprised Menshikov, 
Apraksin, Golovkin, Tolstoi, Golitsin, and Ostermann. The 
last of these was a Westphalian German, who had attracted 
the notice of Peter, and one of the few honest persons by 
whom the Tsar had been served. He was now intrusted with 
the important office of governor of the youthful Peter. The 
other names we are already familiar with as having been 
instrumental in helping Peter to carry out his reforms. 

In 1726 an English fleet appeared in the Baltic. George I. 
seems to have considered that the Russian armaments were 
menacing the peace of Europe. On this occasion Catherine 
displayed a good deal of spirit ; and Ostermann said : " If 
the English Ministers think that they can treat us like children 
they will find themselves greatly mistaken." But the English 
threats came to nothing, and George I. only found himself 
met by a coalition of hostile powers, and dropped his bluster. 
Catherine taking advantage of the ukaze of Peter, nominated 
as her successor Peter, the son of the unfortunate Alexis, and 
in default of Peter and his issue, Elizabeth and Anne, her 
own daughters. Anne died in 1728, the year after her 
mother ; and her son was eventually destined to succeed as 
Peter III. The absolute fairness of this arrangement 
is striking. The Empress died May 17, 1727, in the 
thirty-ninth year of her age. She seems to have suffered 

H 



ii4 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1726 

from a complication of diseases, including a cancer and 
dropsy. 

The reign of the Empress had been short but, notwith- 
standing her humble origin, she had endeared herself to her 
subjects. Neither was she unmindful of her own kin : some 
she had invited to Court, and one, Sophia, had been made a 
lady-in-waiting. At the time of the Empress's death it was 
commonly supposed that the will propounded as hers, by 
which Menshikov was nominated as guardian of the infant 
Tsar until he should attain the age of seventeen, had been 
concocted by Menshikov himself. Certainly Lefort, the 
Saxon envoy, thought so, for on the 27th of September he 
thus writes to his court : As the Princess Elizabeth was in 
the habit of signing everything for the Czarina, the Duke of 
Holstein and Menshikov made her also sign this will of 
which the poor defunct had no idea. Menshikov had further 
obtained the Empress's consent to the betrothal of the young 
Tsar to his own daughter Mary, who was two years the 
prince's senior. According to her portraits she was a hand- 
some girl, but it would seem that she had already given her 
affections to a Prince Sapieha. We are told that she regarded 
the youthful Peter with aversion. 

A very careful plan had been drawn up for the young 
Tsar's education by Ostermann, to whom Russia owed so 
much, and according to the accounts of those who were in 
attendance upon him, he displayed a good deal of ability. 
He was especially attached to his sister Natalia. 

About this time Menshikov very sensibly made some con- 
cessions to the Cossacks, whom Peter had treated with great 
severity. The latter had never forgiven their revolt under 
Mazeppa. They now regained some of their old in- 
dependence, but the Setch, as their military position on the 
Dnieper was called, was never restored in its ancient vigour. 
The Cossacks of the Dnieper had suffered much under their 
Polish masters. Their privileges had been largely encroached 
upon : the permission to distil brandy upon which they set 
so much store had been taken away. They were, however, 



1727] CATHERINE I. AND PETER II. 1 15 

but little better off under Russian rule : the principal relief 
accorded to them was that their religion was no longer to be 
interfered with, for the Poles had been for ever trying to 
convert them to the Romish Church. In a little time the 
hetmanship of the Cossacks was to become a mere honorary 
office held by court favourites, such as Razumovski. 

Menshikov's ascendancy, however, was of short duration. 
In August 1727 he compelled the Duke of Holstein with 
Anne, his wife, to quit Russia. In May of that year the 
Emperor had made him Commander-in-Chief of the Russian 
forces, and he forthwith began to be courted by foreign 
potentates, the German Emperor giving him an estate in 
Silesia. But by degrees his arrogance became intolerable, 
and the boy Tsar, who was now beginning to feel his feet, 
entered into a contest with him which could only end in one 
way. At first Menshikov was deprived of his various offices. 
Then he was arrested and ordered to be confined in his own 
house. This last blow gave rise to an apoplectic stroke. 
At length he was commanded to quit St Petersburg and to 
live upon his estates in the Ukraine, his departure from the 
capital being more like a triumphal procession than that of 
a man in disfavour with his sovereign going into exile. 

The new favourites of the Tsar were now the Dolgorukis 
who had been largely instrumental in bringing about the fall 
of Menshikov. The Court was removed to Moscow where 
the young Tsar was almost wholly engrossed with field sports 
in the forests round the ancient capital. His grandmother, the 
Tsaritsa Eudoxia, was released from her monastic seclusion. 
She was present at Peter's coronation, but he did not receive 
her with any warmth, and she sank again into obscurity. 
Menshikov up to this time had been allowed to reside on his 
estates in the Ukraine; but now, on the plea that he had 
been concerned in a conspiracy, his enemies contended that 
more severe measures should be taken against him. His vast 
property was confiscated for the benefit of the treasury and 
he was found to be possessed of fourteen millions of roubles 
in money and bank notes, and some millions worth of gold, 



n6 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1727 

silver and precious stones, in addition to the landed estates. 
The family was now banished to Berezov, one of the most 
dreary places in Siberia. It lies a thousand versts to the 
north of Tobolsk, and was only inhabited at the time by 
some Ostiaks. The winter there lasts for seven months of 
the year, the thermometer frequently falling to forty degrees 
of frost. The exiles were permitted to take a few servants, 
and five roubles a day were allowed for their maintenance. 
With Menshikov went his son Alexander, aged thirteen, and 
his daughter Mary, aged sixteen, who had been betrothed to 
the Emperor. The ring of betrothal had been taken from 
her on her way from St Petersburg by a courier sent by the 
Tsar. Besides these there was another daughter named 
Alexandra, aged fourteen. The sister of Menshikov was sent 
into a monastery. His wife, who had never shared the un- 
popularity of her husband, is said to have wept herself blind 
with grief; she died just before they reached Kazan, on the 
road to Siberia. Soon after they had left Kazan the exiles, in 
their dreary march, were met by the party of Behring ex- 
plorers who had been sent out by Menshikov himself to 
explore Eastern Siberia. They were amazed to see the late 
master of Russia in the garb of a convict, with a long un- 
kempt beard ; and the bride of the Emperor dressed in sheep- 
skins. As he entered Tobolsk, Menshikov was met by an exile 
whom he himself had sent to Siberia; and the latter began 
to revile him. " My friend," said the fallen minister, " forgive 
me, if I have injured you — and if abuse of me relieves you, 
continue to abuse me." Another exile pelted the children of 
Menshikov with mud. "You ought to throw it at me and 
not at them — they are to blame in nothing," said Menshikov 
calmly. 

When he came to the place of exile he again applied the 
axe which he had learnt to use when with his imperial master 
at Saardam and Deptford. He built for himself a little 
house and a chapel. His children shared with him the 
labours of the humble home. The eldest daughter cooked 
the dinner and the younger washed the clothes. In spite of 



1729] CATHERINE I. AND PETER II. 117 

his many failings we feel that there was something grand in 
Menshikov, and he never seemed grander than in his desolate 
home among the northern snows. He endured all with the 
stoicism of the Russian : a placid submission to fate and the 
will of heaven. His eldest daughter, however, could not 
stand the rigours of the climate and the privations she was 
called upon to undergo. He closed her eyes, fell on the 
earth near her body and wept ; but, after a few minutes, rose 
up firmly and said aloud : " there is rest for the holy ! " He 
made a coffin and dug a grave for the dead girl in the frozen 
earth, and marked out a grave for himself close by. 

Some strange and romantic stories have gathered round 
the memory of Mary Menshikov. A certain prince, Feodor 
Dolgorukov, who was attached to her, is said to have come 
to Berezov and been privately married to her there. The 
inhabitants of Berezov, we read, occasionally saw her walking 
with her husband on the banks of the river Sosva, but, 
poetical as this story may be, probably it has little basis of 
truth. 

Menshikov did not long survive his daughter. He died on 
the 1st of November 1729, in the fifty-seventh year of his 
age — the same year (as Russian authors do not fail to note) 
in which Catherine II. and Suvorov were born. His grave is 
still shown at Berezov. Such was the end of a remarkable 
man, whose life was so full of dramatic incident. Raised 
from the humblest position, he had, after accompanying the 
Tsar on his travels, attained the highest dignities to which a 
Russian subject could aspire. He was great in the field and 
in the council-chamber, and no less great in the last pathetic 
scenes of his life. 

To return, however, to the capricious boy, upon whose 
arbitrary will the fate of the great statesman depended. The 
young Tsar continued to show no desire to go back to St 
Petersburg, and all the work of Peter was in abeyance. His 
fondness for sport was boundless, and he abandoned his 
studies with alacrity. His tutors lost all control over him, 
and all the wisest courtiers felt that the country was drifting 



i 1 8 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1728 

about like a ship without a pilot. Their constant entreaties 
that he would allow the court to be again transferred to St 
Petersburg were useless. No one saw the necessity of such a 
step more than Ostermann, one of the few honest foreigners 
who have served Russia. He succeeded in impressing his 
views upon the Princess Natalia, whose abilities were so much 
in advance of her years. Rondeau, the English Minister, 
thus writes to his government : "The Count Luthol, who is 
a very handsome young fellow, was a great favourite of the 
late Czarina (Catherine). Anna Cramer had also much 
credit with her, and was to be seen at all the entertainments 
given by the Empress in which Count Luthol was one of the 
principal actors. Menshikov placed both of them near the 
Princess Nathalie. Soon afterwards, however, they quarrelled 
with him, and, having gained the affections of their mistress, 
they united with her, the Princess Elizabeth, Apraksin, 
Golovkin, Ostermann, and others to overthrow him. At 
present Luthol and Cramer are the only favourites of the 
Princess Natalia, and they rule her just as they feel disposed. 
This princess, at the beginning of her mother's reign, had 
great authority at court, for the Czar loved her more than 
anybody in the world. But she has presumed a little too 
much upon her credit, and, having tried to persuade her 
brother to abandon the disorderly life he was leading, her 
remonstrances have made her disagreeable to him, and she 
has lost a great deal of the influence which she had over 
him." 

Unfortunately this clever woman was soon to be taken 
away from the brother upon whom she might have exercised 
such a salutary influence. She suffered a great deal through- 
out the year 1728, and died on the 7th of December in that 
year. According to the testimony of the foreign ambassadors 
she was a woman of noble heart, and must have inherited 
some of the qualities of her mother, the excellent Princess 
Charlotte. .The next event in the reign was the betrothal 
of the young Tsar to Catherine Dolgoruki, and then this 
powerful family rose to the height of its power. Peter seems 



1730] CATHERINE I. AND PETER II. 119 

to have regarded his future bride with singular apathy. 
Rondeau in his report describes her as about eighteen years 
of age, handsome, and endowed with many good qualities. 
The Saxon envoy, however, has chronicled some very 
malicious gossip about her, for the atmosphere of the court 
seems to have been eminently vitiated. 

But fate had ordered things otherwise. In the beginning 
of the year 1730 the young Tsar caught the smallpox, and, 
when on the point of convalescence, got a chill through 
carelessness and died on the 20th of January. His last 
words, uttered in delirium, were : " Get ready the sledge ; 
I want to go to my sister." 

The external affairs of the country during this reign were 
of little political import, with the exception, perhaps, of the 
expulsion of Maurice of Saxony, afterwards the hero of 
Fontenoy, from Mittau, the capital of Courland, which 
province he had hoped to gain by making love to the 
widowed duchess, the daughter of the Tsar's brother, Ivan. 
Ever since the time of that marriage, however, Russia had 
kept her eye steadily fixed upon Courland, and its annexation 
had been planned by Peter soon after his interview at 
Marienwerder with Frederick of Prussia. He now laid the 
foundation stone of St Petersburg, and in the grand triumphal 
procession which took place at Moscow, his train was swelled 
with 20,000 prisoners. 

Event after event continued to point to the annexation of 
Baltic provinces at the expense of Sweden and Poland, to 
which latter kingdom Courland was but a loose appendage, 
drifting year by year further apart, till at length the hereditary 
grand-dukes, the race of the Kettlers, having died out, we find 
the throne filled by Russian nominees, and in the time of the 
Empress Catherine it was voluntarily ceded to Russia. 



[1730 



CHAPTER V 

THE REIGN OF ANNE 

/^\N the death of the young Tsar the council took in hand 
^-^ the question of the succession. According to the will 
of Catherine the heirs of her daughter Anne were the next in 
succession ; but the Duke of Holstein had made no friends 
in Russia, and his son, afterwards destined to reign as Peter 
III., was then only three years of age. Elizabeth, the other 
daughter of Catherine, certainly had a right which it would 
have been difficult to defeat, but she seems to have made 
no effort to put forward any claim, and spent her time in 
frivolity and idleness. The French envoy Magnan writes 
as follows to his government : — " The Princess Elizabeth has 
made no appearance at all on this occasion. She had gone 
to amuse herself in the country, and even those who exerted 
themselves in her favour were not able to get her to consent 
to be present in Moscow at the crisis ; many express messages 
which were sent to her to this effect were not able to reach 
her in time, so that she arrived in this city only after the 
Duchess of Courland had been elected." He goes on to say 
that she would not have had many supporters on account 
of the irregularity of her conduct, and she was hardly con- 
sidered "legitimate" by the strict adherents of the Greek 
Church, because she had been born before the marriage of 
her parents. The Dolgorukis put forward an extraordinary 
claim on behalf of their relative Catherine, who had been 
betrothed to the young Tsar. This candidature however 
was not treated seriously. According to Mannstein, scarcely 
had Peter II. died, when Prince Ivan Dolgoruki came out of 
the bedchamber with a drawn sword. This he flourished and 



1730] THE REIGN OF ANNE 121 

cried out, " Long live the Empress Catherine." But no one 
joined in the cry. Seeing therefore that there was no chance 
of his succeeding he went home and burnt the will. At the 
instance of Prince Dimitri Golitsinwho had been one of Peter's 
leading men, the crown was now offered to Anne the Duchess 
of Courland. The old nobility of Russia had looked with 
a certain amount of contempt upon the great multitude of 
parvenus with which the country swarmed, since Peter had 
proclaimed the maxim, la carriere ouverte au talent. In the 
adjacent kingdom of Poland the aristocracy had made them- 
selves the sole rulers; had reduced the sovereign to a mere 
figurehead, and gradually deprived the peasants of the small 
amount of liberty which remained to them. Golitsin and 
his brother nobles took as their model the pacta conventa, on 
which the kingdom of Poland had been framed. It was 
conceived that Anne might be induced to sign something 
similar more readily than her elder sister Catherine, who still 
resided in Russia and was married to the Duke of Mecklen- 
burg. The latter would probably be more exacting in her 
demands, as she had a husband to support her ; moreover, 
the duke had made himself cordially detested in his adopted 
country. 

Since the death of her husband which happened so soon 
after her marriage, Anne had resided at Mittau, the capital 
of Courland. She had however paid frequent visits to St 
Petersburg, and had been to stay at her mother's residence 
at Izmaelovo, but had always been obliged to return to 
Mittau, a place for which she had but little affection. We 
often find her writing to the Tsar about the scanty sum which 
was allowed for her maintenance. Bestuzhev had been 
Peter's resident at her court and satisfied Anne, but her 
uncle Basil was ultimately sent to be a spy upon her. In 
fact Anne was the ruler of Courland only in name ; from this 
time it was practically a Russian dependency. Bestuzhev 
happened to be obliged to go to St Petersburg for busi- 
ness, and presented Biren to Anne as a person capable 
of managing her business in his absence ; but when he 



122 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1700 

returned he found that his nominee had completely sup- 
planted him. 

Terms were drawn up by the Council for Anne to sign. 
The original document, as we shall see afterwards, was 
destroyed, but the French resident Magnan sent a copy to 
his government which probably represents the original pretty 
fairly. The following extracts will give an idea of these 
important changes : — 

"(1) The Empress must consult the High Council on all 
Government affairs. 

" (2) She must not declare peace or war without the 
consent of the Council. 

" (3) She was to procure the consent of the Council to the 
imposition of any new taxes. 

" (4) No important office was to be conferred without the 
consent of the Council. 

" (5) The Empress must not condemn nor order to be 
executed any of the nobility unless the person implicated has 
been proved to deserve death. 

"(6) The property of no nobleman shall be confiscated 
unless his crime has been proved. 

"(7) Xo property belonging to the Crown domains could 
be alienated without the consent of the Council. 

" (8) The Empress was neither to mam- nor choose a 
successor without the consent of the Council." 

There was also the basis of a thorough constitutional 
government in the following proposals : — 

"(1) The Empress must have a fixed sum for the expenses 
of her household ; and shall have under her control only the 
body of troops forming the guard which is on duty at the 
Palace. 

"(2) There must be a Supreme Council composed of twelve 
members from among the most considerable of the nobility, 
who shall direct all affairs of great importance, such as peace, 
war, and foreign alliances. A treasurer must be appointed 
who shall give an account to the Supreme Council of the use 
he has made of the State funds. 



1730] THE REIGN OF ANNE 123 

" (3) There must be a Senate consisting of thirty-six 
members who shall examine all business, before it is brought 
to the Supreme Council. 

" (4) There must be a House of two hundred persons of 
the lesser nobility to maintain the rights of that class, in case 
the Supreme Council attempt to invade them. 

" (5) There must be an assembly of gentlemen and 
merchants whose business it shall be to see that the people 
are not oppressed." 

But the carrying out of these important measures was 
hampered by the quarrels among the nobility themselves. 
Many of the new men felt that the creation of an oligarchy of 
this sort meant ruin for themselves. This was especially the 
case with Golovkin and Ostermann. How far the latter really 
signed the conditions at all seems doubtful ; it was certain 
that under such a government the son of the poor Lutheran 
pastor would be reduced to insignificance. Yagushinski, 
who had been actively employed by Peter, wrote secretly to 
Anne urging her not to subscribe to the conditions proposed, 
and telling her that there was a party that would support her. 
The agent, however, of Yagushinski, one Sumarokov, was 
arrested on his way back from Mittau where the widowed 
duchess was residing. Yagushinski was at once thrown into 
prison. Meanwhile the members of the Council continued 
their quarrels, and the future Empress resolved to put the 
matter to the test. She was without doubt well informed as 
to the position of affairs. She received at Mittau Prince 
Basil Dolgoruki, Golitsin and Leontiev who affected to come 
as deputies from the Senate and nobility. Anne resolved 
to temporise. She subscribed the conditions which the 
emissaries proposed to her, and issued a manifesto declar- 
ing her readiness to accept the crown upon such terms. She 
then set out for Moscow, stopping e?i route at the village of 
Vsevsvatskoe (All-Saints) about eight versts from that city. 
When the nobles begged her to accept the cross of St Andrew 
she refused to take it from their hands, and directed one 
of her ladies-in-waiting to put it on her own neck. The 



i2 4 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1780 

following morning a battalion of the regiment of Preobrazh- 
enski Guards and a detachment of Horse Guards were sent 
to her. Anne, as was the custom of the Russian sovereigns, 
gave to each of the officers a glass of brandy with her 
own hand. So Sophia, whom she much resembled in her 
masculine and commanding presence, had done to the 
streltsi. All this time Ostermann had been secretly working 
for Anne. At length everything was ready for the counter- 
blow, and when at Moscow the document was presented to 
the Empress for final ratification, she seized it from the 
Chancellor Golovkin and tore it to pieces. She declared 
that she would never wear a crown conferred upon her by 
eight people only. This scene occurred on the tenth day 
after the Empress had ascended the throne. She had become 
aware of the large party in her favour ; although we are told 
that the Dolgorukis did what they could to prevent anyone 
from obtaining access to her. She had on her side Trubeiski, 
Cherkaski, Bariatinski, and Apraksin. The nobles had gone 
in a body to the palace, and, resisting the attempts of the 
Dolgorukis to bar their entrance, had presented to the 
Empress the petition accompanying the document torn up 
by her as previously mentioned. Thus ended the second 
attempt to procure a semblance of constitutional govern- 
ment for Russia if we are to accept the view that Michael 
Romanov was only allowed to ascend the throne on signing 
a charter. 

According to Mannstein on the evening of the same day 
Prince Demetrius Golitsin uttered in the private circle of his 
friends the following remarkable and prophetic words : " The 
feast was ready but the guests were unworthy of the feast. I 
know that I shall be the victim of the failure of this plan. 
So be it. I shall suffer for my country. I am already in 
point of years near to the close of my life. But those who 
make me weep will shed tears longer than I shall." 

Anne was in her thirty-seventh year when she was chosen 
Tsaritsa. According to all accounts she was a woman of 
forbidding aspect and somewhat staring eyes, and her por- 



1730] THE REIGN OF ANNE 125 

traits bear out the description. The new Empress did not 
forget Yagushinski who had suffered so much for her sake. 
He was appointed Procuror General of the Senate. The 
Dolgorukis were banished to Siberia. The wrath of the 
Empress against this family had been repressed till a favour- 
able time for reprisals should occur. Magnan the French 
envoy reported to his government that the new Tsaritsa had 
been several times closeted with Ostermann in her cabinet 
and had issued orders for the arrest of six members of the 
Dolgoruki family and some foreigners of distinction. Anne 
at first allowed herself to be influenced by wise counsellors 
such as Ostermann and Munich ; but in the latter part of her 
reign she was a slave to the caprices of her favourite Biren. 
Hence Russian historians, with a considerable amount of 
reason, divide her reign of ten years into four under the 
counsels of Peter's surviving coadjutors, and six under the 
hateful Bironstchina as it has been happily termed. During 
the latter stormy period the Empress threw herself entirely 
into the hands of German favourites, especially the Courlander 
Biren. According to some recent articles in the Istoricheski 
Viestnik, Biren (as we will call him for convenience, though 
the name should more properly be written Buhren), was not 
the son of a groom as has been commonly assumed, but a 
man belonging to the smaller gentry, and perhaps the sinister 
report would not have arisen had he not foolishly tried to 
connect himself with the old Norman family Biron with which 
in reality he had nothing whatsoever to do. Biren was born 
in 1690 and in 17 14 had come to Russia to seek a place in 
the entourage of the wife of the Tsesarevich Alexis. Here, 
however, he met with a repulse and was compelled to return 
to Courland. At this time Anne, then the widow of the duke, 
was living at Mittau. The chief person at her court was 
Michael Bestuzhev Riumin. Biren succeeded in getting into 
the favour of the latter and thus obtained access to the 
duchess. Anne was so taken with him that she appointed 
him her Kammerjunker. This elevation of the parvenu 
irritated the proud Courland aristocrats, and two of them, 



126 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1733 

Vietinghof and Kaiserling, at once vacated similar posts. 
Biren had a vigorous and fertile mind coupled with the gift of 
eloquence, and unbounded ambition. He soon acquired 
great influence over the duchess. He succeeded in forcing 
Bestuzhev to leave Courland in 1728 and so became all- 
powerful. In order to establish himself permanently Biren 
now determined to seek a matrimonial alliance among the 
Courland nobility. After having endured many rebuffs he 
married in 1723 Fraulein Benigna Trotta von Treiden, an 
old maid, very ugly and afflicted with chronic illness, which 
did not, however, prevent her from living to an extreme old 
age. By her Biren had three children, a daughter and two 
sons ; of one of the latter we shall hear more in the course 
of the narrative. During the reign of Anne they simply 
played the part of enfants terrtbles, being fond of throwing 
ink and wine over the court dresses of the nobles and tearing 
off their wigs. 

One of the chief causes of the resentment felt by Anne 
towards the Dolgorukis and the Golitsins is supposed to have 
been their insertion of a clause in the terms they strove to 
make with her, that Biren should not be allowed to return to 
Russia. As soon, however, as she had become really mistress 
of the country she at once summoned him and honours were 
heaped upon him in rapid succession. Rondeau wrote to 
his government on June 22, [733, "The [German] Emperor 
has sent to M. Biren, the Grand Chamberlain and favourite 
of the Empress, his portrait encircled with diamonds worth at 
least 5000 pounds sterling, and has at the same time made 
him Count of the Empire." In another despatch of the 
20th of April he also speaks of the great anger which this 
fondness for foreigners generated among the old Russian 
party. Anne herself during her stay of eighteen years in 
Courland, had become very German in thought and feeling. 
Biren was at the head of the court ; Ostermann directed 
home affairs j and Munich was at the head of the war 
department so that Russia was now practically governed by 
foreigners. 



1730] THE REIGN OF ANNE 127 

Munich, who came from Holstein, was an excellent 
example of the soldier of fortune of the period. He was 
born in 1683, and first served in the French army, then 
entered the service of Austria and Poland, and finally that of 
Russia. Peter the Great had a high opinion of him, and 
entrusted him with the construction of the Ladoga Canal. 

The opposing faction hardly dared to make any complaint. 
Yagushinski was the only one who showed any sign of dis- 
content ; he might perhaps have expiated his rashness by a 
journey to Siberia as the Dolgorukis had done, but Oster- 
mann sent him to Berlin as ambassador. 

The Russians of the old or National party now looked 
more than ever to Elizabeth and hoped to be able to compel 
the Tsaritsa to appoint the latter heiress to the throne even 
during her lifetime. Anne had however other views, and 
inclined to her niece, the daughter of the Duchess of Mecklen- 
burg. Rondeau, in a despatch of the 28th of May 1730, 
speaks of the irregular and completely idle life Elizabeth 
led. He adds that he had heard some very compromising 
details from M. Lestocq, her surgeon, and that the Empress 
seemed pleased with these irregularities rather than otherwise 
because they made Elizabeth's accession to the throne less 
probable. Rondeau is continually writing to his government 
about the great extravagance which prevailed at the court. 
Although the exchequer was almost empty the Empress 
gave a series of court balls. Biren and his brother were 
continually receiving presents. But the great favourite had 
other objects of ambition; he was anxious to be the 
ruler of that very duchy which had previously refused 
to receive him into the ranks of its gentry. At his in- 
stigation Russia sent an army of sixty thousand men to 
support the claims of the Elector of Saxony (Augustus III.) 
to the throne of Poland. In return for this material aid the 
election of Biren to the duchy was ratified by the Republic 
of Poland of which Courland was a dependency. Rondeau 
tells us that Biren was very eager to receive the investiture 
of the duchy, but the Empress could not bear parting with 



128 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1739 

him, so he was admitted to his new honours by proxy. 
But even with this position he had not satisfied his ambition. 
He wished that his son should marry the young Duchess of 
Mecklenburg whose mother had died in 1733, her constitution 
having been undermined, as Rondeau told his government, 
by her addiction to brandy. Of the daughter, Rondeau 
said that although not beautiful she was passable. The 
Tsaritsa, however, wished to marry her niece to Prince Ulric 
Anthony of Brunswick- Beveren, nephew of the German 
Empress. Rondeau tells us how he duly made his appear- 
ance at the court. But Anna, the young duchess, seems to 
have regarded her future husband with dislike. In con- 
sequence of this the hopes of Biren were not altogether 
crushed and he did his utmost to ingratiate himself with the 
young lady. According to Rondeau Biren asked her what 
her opinions were of the Brunswick prince, to which she 
replied that she was entirely at her majesty's disposal, that 
if her own taste was consulted she did not care for the 
prince. It appears, however, that if she did not like Anthony 
of Brunswick very well, she liked the younger Biren even 
less. Finally she was married to the former on the 3rd of 
July 1739. In the midst of the preparations for this marriage, 
the tsaritsa was troubled by some conspiracies. A few years 
before (1733) Prince Cherkaski who was governor of 
Smolensk had been convicted of conspiring in favour of 
the Duke of Holstein and sent to perpetual imprisonment 
in Kamchatka. Three years afterwards the aged prince 
Dmitri Dolgoruki had his property confiscated and was im- 
prisoned in the fortress of Schliisselburg. 

Volinski, the Russian statesman, who had been employed 
by Peter in very important State affairs, having incurred the 
enmity of Biren, was executed with two companions, Yerop- 
kin and Khrustchov, under circumstances of great cruelty. 
His tongue was cut out, and he was to have been broken upon 
the wheel, but at the last moment the Empress commuted 
the latter part of the punishment to decapitation. Volinski 
was a man of considerable merit, and in our own time a 



1740] THE REIGN OF ANNE 129 

monument has been erected to his memory. He was, how- 
ever, haughty and domineering, as was shown in his treatment 
of Trediakovski, the poet. He possessed a large library for a 
Russian of that day, and some of the notes which he occa- 
sionally made in the volumes where he thought he found a 
parallel to the character and caprices of the Empress — 
especially in the writings of Justus Lepsius, an author who 
was then very much read — were found and quoted against him. 
There could be no possibility of mistaking such a note as 
eto ona (that's she), apropos of some disagreeable characteristic 
in one of the persons introduced by Lepsius. 

It is a pity that Volinski should have displayed so much 
weakness while under examination, but his spirit was broken 
by the tortures inflicted upon him. Three days after his 
execution his son and two daughters were sent to Siberia, 
where the daughters were forced to become nuns. The 
brother of Volinski, without being found guilty of any crime, 
was put into a fortress. When Anne died Anna Leopoldovna 
set them all free, and the compelling of the daughters to 
become nuns was declared to have been unlawful. In the 
time of Elizabeth they married noble husbands. 

Another victim of the secret chancery was Makarov, who in 
the time of Peter the Great had been chief of the Cabinet. 
At one period this man was in close attendance upon the 
Tsar and all powerful. Many then had sought his favour, 
and among them Anne, into whose head it never entered 
that she would one day be Empress. She and her sister had 
been familiarly called the Ivanovnas at Moscow in former 
days ; and she had at that time been glad of the countenance 
of the all-powerful Makarov. But times had changed. She 
now demanded her letters back from him, and naturally 
disliked the man whose presence continually reminded her of 
her former humble position. He was accused of corrupt 
practices, and kept at Moscow under arrest for two years and 
nine months, during which time his affairs went to ruin. He 
ventured in a letter to entreat the Empress to set him free, 
but this only resulted in a slight relaxation of his punishment. 



130 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1739 

One of the cases investigated by the secret chancery was 
that of an impostor, who declared that he was the Tsesarevich 
Alexis. He was a Pole named Minicki, who had come to 
Russia twenty years before, and had partly lived the life of 
a soldier and partly in monasteries, especially in those of 
Malorussia. While he was in the district of Kiev he gave 
himself out to be Alexis, but only succeeded in gaining as 
adherents a priest and some soldiers. The priest admitted 
him to the church and ordered lights to be burnt and the 
bells to be rung ; the people came into the church and the 
false Tsar held up the cross for them to take the oath. But 
suddenly a captain with some Cossacks ran into the church 
and ordered them to drag out the pretender and send him in 
chains to the military chancery at Pereslavl. The colonel at 
Pereslavl sent him, still in chains, off to Moscow to the 
secret chancery. The impostor himself and the priest who 
had supported him were impaled, and others of his followers 
were decapitated. 

Not only political matters, however, but those of the most 
trivial, social kind were investigated in the chancery. If any 
old women came together and in their chattering introduced 
the name of the Empress or Biren, a bystander had only to cry, 
Stovo i dieio, " The word and the deed," and the old women 
were at once transported to the secret chancery. All Russia 
was in terror of the delatores, who invaded every circle of 
private life and broke the sanctity of the closest ties. 

Through the machinations of Biren many other members 
of noble families were sent to Siberia. He is generally sup- 
posed to have planned the cowardly murder of Major Malcolm 
Sinclair, an officer of Scotch extraction, who had entered the 
Swedish service and was sent in the year 1739 to Turkey with 
the view of bringing* about a treaty between that country and 
Sweden in view of Russian encroachments. On his way back 
from Constantinople he was waylaid near Altschau, in Silesia, 
by two emissaries of Biren and murdered. It does not 
appear that the Empress was cognisant of the matter. Just 
at this time the agitation which existed in Sweden for the 



1740] THE REIGN OF ANNE 131 

recovery of the Baltic provinces was coming to a head, and 
war was on the point of breaking out, when (1740) the 
Empress died. 

The principal event of her reign had been the four years' 
war with Turkey, although in reality it had led to no decisive 
result. The two chief Russian commanders in this war were 
Munich, a German, and Lacy, an Irishman. 

The reign of Anne was not without many changes in 
internal affairs. It was she who put an end to the Supreme 
Council and restored the Senate, which had lost its power in 
the time of Catherine I. and Peter II., giving to it a more 
regular constitution. According to the scheme of Munich it 
was divided into five departments : One of them had the 
superintendence of spiritual affairs, when they were such 
matters as could properly be discussed by the Senate; 
another had cognizance of military matters, and the third 
of finance, the fourth dealt with the administration of 
justice, and the fifth with manufactures. Each department 
consisted of four or five senators, who made a previous 
examination of all questions connected with their department 
and reported on them at the general meeting, where they 
were decided by the majority. The Senate also received 
again the power which it had enjoyed in the time of Peter 
the Great, but which it lost ultimately by the foundation 
of the Cabinet of Ministers in the second year of the reign 
of Anne. 

The Cabinet had the same significance as had been given 
by Catherine I. to the Privy Council, that is to say, the 
Empress consulted her advisers, and with this object formed 
a Council of four members (over which she herself presided), 
consisting of the Chancellor Golovkin, the Vice-Chancellor 
Ostermann, Prince Cherkaski, and Count Munich. Into 
the Cabinet were brought the papers which were laid before 
the Empress herself for ratification. Besides these, all 
political questions were there discussed. The general 
management of affairs, which did hot demand the ukaze 
of the sovereign, was centred in the Senate, as had been 



132 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1740 

done in the time of Peter the Great. Two other departments 
also received new and definite settlement, with a considerable 
increase of their functions. Measures were taken for a speedy 
codification of the laws, and rules were laid down to guarantee 
the purity of the courts. A great deal also was done in 
military matters, and the Russian army came to assume a 
more splendid appearance. All this was brought about by 
Munich. He formed a body of heavy cavalry out of some 
regiments of cuirassiers, such as previously did not exist ; 
he raised two new regiments of guards, the Ismaelov and the 
Horse Guards. He improved the artillery, laid a solid 
foundation to the work of the engineers, strengthened the 
fortresses, and formed a corps of cadets for the training of 
young noblemen who meditated entering the military service. 
Moreover, he improved the discipline of the army to such 
an extent that from this time the Russian infantry became 
known as a model throughout Europe. As one result of 
these measures the Empress raised the pay of the officers. 
The service of the nobles was also rendered lighter. In the 
time of Peter each nobleman was bound to serve the country 
from youth to old age ; in fact, as long as his strength lasted. 
In the case of a family where there were three or four sons, 
Anne allowed one to remain at home to manage the estate. 
The others went into the service at twenty years of age, and 
when they had reached the age of twenty-five might retire 
with a higher rank. 

Another privilege conferred upon the nobility was the 
power to alienate their property. According to the law of 
Peter the Great (1714) the owner of an estate could neither 
mortgage nor sell his immovable property, and could be- 
queath it to one son only, to the prejudice of the rest of his 
children. The Senate represented to the Empress that this 
law did more harm than good. Anne ordered it to be 
changed, and the devolution of estates was settled according 
to the Ordinance (Ulozhenie) of the Emperor Alexis in 1649. 
Other ranks of society too received exemptions no less im- 
portant. The merchants were forgiven their arrears due to 



mo] THE REIGN OF ANNE 133 

the Customs, and the capitation tax paid by the peasant 
was considerably diminished. Many steps were taken to 
improve the manufactures carried on in the country, and 
mining establishments were founded in Siberia according to 
the plans of Peter the Great. 

It was Peter the Great who had first brought into notice 
the family of the Demidovs destined to fill so great a position 
in the records of Russian mining. The story of the rise of 
this family, now so wealthy, is worth telling, even at the cost 
of a digression. In 1696, when going to Voronezh, Peter 
had passed through Tula, and sent his attendant to ask the 
Tula blacksmiths if they could undertake in the course of a 
month to make three hundred halberds after a pattern which 
he had brought with him. Only one man responded to the 
appeal, the peasant Nikita Demidovich Demidov. When he 
was presented to Peter, the latter was much struck with the 
tall stature, manly visage, and symmetrical build of the man, 
and said to the nobles who were present, " What a fine fellow, 
he would just do for the grenadiers of the Preobrazhenski 
regiment." Nikita, considering the words of the Tsar to be 
meant as a command to him to become a soldier, fell at 
Peter's feet, and with tears asked him to excuse him on 
account of his aged mother whose only son and support he 
was. The Emperor, smiling at the terror of Demidov, said 
to him joking, " I will excuse you if you will make the halberds 
like the pattern." Nikita answered that he hoped to make 
them better than the pattern, and that he would bring them 
to Voronezh by the appointed time. When within a month 
Demidov presented himself with the halberds, Peter was so 
pleased with the way in which the work had been executed 
that he paid him thrice as much as he asked, gave him a 
silver mug, and promised to come and see him on his way 
back. When he came again to Tula, Peter remembered his 
promise, and paid a visit of inspection to Demidov's humble 
establishment, and asked him about his business. Demidov 
offered the Tsar a glass of excellent Rhine wine. " Ah S 
Demiditch," said the Emperor, " you ought not to keep such 



134 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1740 

expensive wine as this." " Your highness," said his host, " I 
never drink such wine. I have got this foreign wine only 
for you." " Take it away," replied the Tsar, "and give me a 
glass of our national Russian drink." The wife of Demidov 
hastened to gratify the wish of the Emperor, who drank up 
the vodka, ate a piece of cake, and turning to Nikita, said, 
"follow me, I want to speak to you about something." Going 
back to his lodgings, the Tsar then showed Demidov a gun 
of foreign manufacture and asked him if he could make 
anything like it in his establishment. Demidov answered 
that he would try but could not guarantee the result. " Well, 
I rely upon you," said Peter, " and when you have done it 
come to me at Moscow." 

Demidov went heartily to work, and after some unsuc- 
cessful attempts, produced six guns with which he made his 
appearance before the Tsar. Peter examined the weapons 
carefully, and when he saw that they were no worse than the 
foreign specimens, he made Demidov a present of a hundred 
roubles, and said "develop your business, Demiditch, and I 
will stick to you." 

In this way began the fortunes of the house of Demidov, 
which in the course of the eighteenth century developed 
into almost fabulous wealth. In this story Peter shows him- 
self, as indeed he always was, a typical Russian man of the 
people, with his humour, his straightforwardness, and dex- 
terity. It is interesting to think that the greatest sovereign 
whom Russia has produced, should have been such a typical 
specimen of the race. To return, however, to the reforms of 
the Empress Anne. 

The principal educational establishment was the Academy 
of Sciences, in conjunction with which a school for thirty-five 
youths of the class of nobles was founded in the year 1735. 
This Academy of Sciences also had the control of scientific 
expeditions. There had been appointed in the year 1732 a 
second expedition to the coast of Kamchatka which had also 
an administrative object. Okhotsk and the eastern coast 
generally was to be settled with colonists. Behring was to 



1740] THE REIGN OF ANNE 135 

send men both on land and by water to ascertain the limits 
of the Northern Sea, and he himself was to ascertain what 
was between Kamchatka and America, and to claim whatever 
he found as belonging to Russia, provided that he did not 
interfere with the rights of foreign nations, including those of 
China and Japan. With these two last-named countries he 
was to open up commercial relations. In 1736 another 
expedition was sent by the Academy under the command 
of Muraviov and Ortsin, with the object of discovering a route 
by the icy ocean from Archangel to the mouth of the Ob; 
and in the year 1740 Professor Delille was sent by the 
Academy to make astronomical observations at Obdorsk. 

The attention of the Academy of Sciences was also directed 
to the history of the country. In pursuance of the Academy's 
resolution in June 1736, directions were given throughout 
all Russia for the collection of MSS. and documents relating 
to the reigns of Ivan the Terrible, Michael, and Alexis. 
These were to be sent to the Senate, and the Senate having 
investigated them with a view of seeing what they contained 
relative to the history of the country was to send them to the 
Academy. Whatever was of a secret nature was to be sent 
to the Cabinet. It was then that were published the first 
works of Gottfried Miiller, a foreigner who came to Russia in 
the year 1720, and rendered some valuable services to the 
country. 

Though imperfectly acquainted with the language, he soon 
set himself to collect materials, and published his " Samm- 
lung der russischen Geschichte," a work which retains its 
importance even at the present day. In 1732 Miiller received 
a commission from the Academy of Sciences to visit Siberia 
in order to study the country, and spent ten years in doing 
so. It was while on this journey that he saw near Lake 
Baikal Voinarovski, the nephew of Mazeppa, who, after 
having been a popular visitor at some of the western courts 
of Europe, had now become the half savage inhabitant of the 
desert. As such he is described in the poem of Ryleiev. 
On his return, Miiller, till the close of his life, was occupied 



136 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [l782 

in putting in order the materials he had collected relating to 
the geography, history, ethnography, and natural history of 
Russia. The collections he made are still preserved in the 
foreign archives at St Petersburg under the title of Miiller's 
portfolios. 

Nor was Anne less interested in national education, and 
schools were established for the children of the clergy. 
These may be said to have existed even as early as the 
reign of Ivan the Terrible, and as a result of the Council 
of 155 1, which published the Stoglav or Book of the Hundred 
Chapters. 

In matters of external policy Anne followed in the footsteps 
of her predecessors. Russia, which for more than half a 
century had longed for peace, was now in a position to enjoy 
comparative calm. Ever since 1687 the country had been 
engaged in warfare with its neighbours j at first with the 
Turks, then with the Swedes, and finally with the Persians. 

The disputes with the Turks and Swedes were now matters 
of- history j but the war with Persia had for nine years been 
carried on without any decisive result. Besides these, the 
complicated affairs of the Duke of Holstein still remained 
unsettled. In the time of Catherine they had almost dragged 
Russia into a European war. However much Peter might 
have been interested in these contests, his opinions were by 
no means shared by the majority of his subjects. By them 
these wars were considered a useless burden ; they looked 
upon the Persian territories which had been subjugated by 
the Russian arms as a gulf which had swallowed up both 
men and money. In the quarrel with Denmark about the 
rights of the Duke of Holstein, they saw a matter which was 
of indifference to Russia ; and from this point of view Anne 
regarded both questions. Her resolve to put an end to 
the quarrel with Persia and Denmark met with the general 
approval of her subjects. 

To really strengthen the Russian authority on the western 
and southern banks of the Caspian Sea a large additional 
force was required. Russia had to deal with a fierce soldier, 



1732] THE REIGN OF ANNE 137 

who had filled the East with the story of his battles. This 
hero was the daring Nadir Shah. He was for a long time 
the captain of a band of robbers, and as such had gained for 
himself a great reputation. He was now inflamed by a spirit 
of ambition, and aimed at restoring the ancient power of 
Persia. He quitted his former trade of brigand and offered 
to enter the service of the son of Hussein with a large body 
of adherents. 

The Shah Tahmasp had been reduced to extremities by the 
victories of the Turks, and the rebels had got possession 
of almost all Persia, including Ispahan. He hid himself in 
Mazanderan, without soldiers and without hope of getting 
back his throne. He was therefore the more ready to listen 
to Nadir's offer, because in him he saw his one hope of 
assistance. And now events were not long in taking a turn. 
Victory followed upon victory, and at length the rebels 
showed themselves cowed. Nadir quickly drove them out 
of the chief cities, got possession of Ispahan, gave the Shah 
back his throne, and having rendered Persia tranquil once 
more, directed his victorious arms against the foreign enemies 
of his country, especially the Turks. 

A crushing defeat, which he inflicted on the Turkish army 
under the walls of Tabriz, had the effect of throwing the 
Porte into consternation. An insurrection broke out in 
Constantinople. The Sultan, Akhmet III., was driven from 
the throne, and Mehmed V. took his place. Meanwhile an 
agitation in favour of Tahmasp was discovered in those districts 
of the Caspian which had been occupied by the Russian 
forces. The people rose en masse, and the Russian regiments 
were barely saved from destruction. Levashev implored the 
Empress to send large reinforcements. Anne, instead of 
doing so, despatched Baron Sharlrov with terms of peace, 
and, at the same time, offered to restore all Peter's conquests. 
Shafirov met the ambassadors of the Shah in conference at 
Resht, and the principal terms of peace were agreed upon. 
It was arranged that the Russian forces should immediately 
evacuate all the Persian territories on the southern shores of 



138 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [l7S5 

the Caspian, and the western shore between the old Russian 
frontier and the river Kura was to be handed over as soon as 
peace should be concluded with Turkey. The main object 
of the Russian Government was the re-establishment of the 
old friendship with Persia and the expulsion of the Turks 
from the Caucasus. The Shah confirmed the treaty which 
had been concluded at Resht, and Levashev brought his 
regiment to the left bank of the Kura. Here he awaited the 
conclusion of the war between Turkey and Persia, which had 
broken out once more with renewed vigour. 

Soon after this the disagreement with Denmark about 
Schleswig was settled. The interference of Russia in the 
quarrels between the Duke of Holstein and the King of 
Denmark had been brought to an end by the mediation of 
the German Emperor. Offers were made to the duke to 
give up the disputed portion of Schleswig for one million 
reichsthalers. If he did not receive this sum in the course of 
two years he was to consider the matter settled. At the same 
time the two powers signed mutual treaties of defence, which 
guaranteed the integrity of the Danish possessions. 



1733] 



CHAPTER VI 

THE REIGN OF ANNE— continued 

r ~PHE Empress died in 1740 at the age of forty-seven. 
A When she felt her end approaching she named as her 
successor her grand-nephew Ivan, grandson of her sister 
Catherine, Duchess of Mecklenburg. Catherine, who was 
now dead, had a daughter Anna, whose marriage with 
Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick has already been mentioned. 
Biren was nominated as regent. This man had retained his 
influence over Anne till the last ; almost her last words were 
addressed to him: " Nebois, do not be afraid." No man, 
however, had made himself more thoroughly hated than 
Biren, and his sons were equally detested. One of the last 
acts of the Empress was to arrange a match for the daughter 
of Biren. She was especially anxious that she should marry 
the handsome and clever Hereditary Prince of Hesse- 
Darmstadt; but her wish was not to be gratified, for the 
father of the prince, the Landgrave Ludwig VIII., declared 
that under no circumstances would he take into his family 
the grand-daughter of a groom. These insulting words 
were received in St Petersburg on the eve of the death 
of the Empress, and seem to show that this story of Biren's 
origin was believed in his life-time, and was not a late 
invention. 

If Anne in some respects departed from Peter's Oriental 
policy, she adhered to his plan of action with regard to 
Poland and Turkey. Augustus II. died in 1733. The 
election of a king in Poland had become a more turbulent 
matter than ever since the sovereignty was no longer con- 
tinued in the line of the Jagiellos. The last Jagiello had 
been John Casimir, whose pathetic renunciation of the crown 



140 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1733 

is familiar to all readers of history. The Polish nobles were 
generally divided into three prominent parties, one being 
inclined to Austria, one to France, and one to Russia. In 
spite of all her machinations, Austria never succeeded in 
getting a Habsburg elected to the throne. She contrived, 
however, that many of the Polish sovereigns should marry 
Austrian archduchesses. The fatal quarrels and egoism of 
the nobility were again patent. 

On the death of Augustus the diet (Sejm) was summoned 
at Warsaw. The Archbishop of Gniezno (Gnesen), who by 
virtue of his office was regent of the kingdom, wanted to 
keep foreigners from the throne, and to have a Piast, that is, 
a native Pole, appointed, as had been done in the case of 
Michael Wisniowiecki and John Sobieski. The choice fell 
upon Stanislaus Leszczynski, who was at that time living 
at Nancy. He had previously had some experience of 
kingship, and knew well the fickleness of his countrymen. 
In 1725 his daughter Maria had married Louis XV. At 
first Stanislaus was reluctant to accept the proffered honour. 
When, however, he did accept it, a great difficulty presented 
itself. How was he to reach Poland ? Neither Austria nor 
Prussia would allow him to pass through their territories, and 
a Russian fleet barred all access to Poland by the Baltic. 
Accordingly, a stratagem was resorted to. A report was 
circulated that Stanislaus was going to Danzig with a French 
fleet, which was about to sail from Brest. On the 20th of 
August 1733 Stanislaus publicly took leave of the French 
court in order to accept his new kingdom. He then went to 
Berry, where a certain Chevalier de Thianges, who had some 
likeness to him, was waiting. This man then disguised 
himself as the Polish sovereign, and hurried to Brest. On 
the 26th of August, while the false Stanislaus embarked at 
Brest amidst salvos of cannon, the genuine king was hurried 
through Germany to Poland in the company of the Chevalier 
dAndelot. On the 10th of September he appeared at the 
diet, and was duly elected by a majority of sixty thousand 
votes. 



1733] THE REIGN OF ANNE 141 

The union of the daughter of Stanislaus with the French 
king was urged against him by the pro-Russian party. To 
this day the intrigues which brought about this extraordinary 
marriage cannot be said to have been completely unravelled ; 
of course it was considered a mesalliance for a powerful 
monarchy like France. It has been supposed that his 
ministers wished the king to be married to a woman of com- 
parative insignificance, so that they might have him more 
under their own control. There were a certain number of 
Poles at the diet who showed the usual jealousy of their 
order, and attempted to upset the election of Stanislaus: 
their candidate was the son of Augustus, of the same name, — 
a man of coarse habits and poor intellect, who seemed likely 
to keep the country at the same level of degradation as his 
father had left it. Austria, always planning something to the 
detriment of Poland, took the same side as the Russians. 
Augustus III., as he afterwards became, promised the 
Empress that he would support the claims of Biren to the 
Duchy of Courland. He also promised the German Emperor 
that he would give his consent to the Pragmatic Sanction. 
Augustus was supported by the Chancellor of the Grand 
Duchy of Lithuania, Michael Wisniowiecki. Russian troops 
presently made their appearance on the scene, and the Poles 
were too weak to withstand them. Stanislaus could hold out 
no longer at Warsaw, but was obliged to retire to Danzig, in 
expectation of some French troops which had been promised 
him. His rival, with his supporters, occupied the suburb of 
Praga. There were even fights between the opposing parties, 
which were only too characteristic of divided and unhappy 
Poland, now fast declining. Wisniowiecki then invited the 
Russian troops to enter upon Polish territory, and a force was 
sent under the command of General Lacy. This Irish soldier 
of fortune had entered the Russian service in the latter part 
of the seventeenth century, and he had distinguished himself 
by taking 17,000 Swedes prisoners in 1742. He died 
Governor of Riga in 1751. A new diet now met and 
appointed Augustus to the throne. Stanislaus was still at 



142 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1733 

Danzig, and it was not until he had been there five months 
that the Russians began the siege. The much expected 
French troops at length made their appearance ; they con- 
sisted of only 1000 men under the command of Count de Plelo. 
Some of the Russian forces had been left behind to hold 
Warsaw, and the siege of Danzig was consequently carried 
on in a desultory manner, with only three or four field pieces. 
The Tsaritsa hastened to increase her forces and put them 
under the command of Munich. Affairs at once took 
another turn, Munich captured the French detachment which 
had made a sally, collected some powerful artillery, and began 
such a bombardment of Danzig that Stanislaus saw the im- 
possibility of defending the place, and contrived to escape 
through the Russian lines disguised as a peasant. He 
himself has left an interesting account of his flight and the 
generous refusal of a peasant to receive any money for ferry- 
ing him over the river. The good king retired to his little 
capital of Nancy where he eventually died at an advanced 
age in 1766. The loss of such a man was a great blow to 
Poland. 

The reign of the Empress Anne cannot be said to have 
added much lustre to the annals of Russia. She was a hard 
and somewhat cruel woman, and many stories are told of her 
caprice and severity. She was rigorous in upholding even 
the most petty details of court etiquette, of which some 
examples are given in the very interesting memoirs of the 
Princess Dashkov. She used to make the old ladies of her 
court stand in her presence till they were ready to faint. 
When she was tired of court business, she would call her 
ladies-in-waiting and say " sing, girls, sing." The ladies then 
would stand in a circle and sing till the Empress began to 
yawn, then soldiers of the guard and their wives came in and 
danced national dances in which the noblemen present and 
members of the Imperial family often took part. Princess 
Dashkov tells us how some of the young ladies growing 
nervous when the Tsaritsa ordered them to dance, forgot the 
figure and in consequence had their ears well boxed by the 



1736] THE REIGN OF ANNE 143 

Empress. Mannstein, whose memoirs of this period are very 
valuable, tells us that the Empress did not love gambling, 
although a great deal of card playing went on at court. She 
was fond of entertainment and music, and liked comedies 
acted in Italian and German. In 1736 the first opera was 
put on the stage at St Petersburg. There was at the same 
time greater sobriety at court, for, as Mannstein tells us, the 
Empress could not bear to see anyone drunk. Prince 
Kurakin was the only one who had free permission to drink 
as much as he pleased. There was, however, a good deal 
of revelry on 10th February, on the day of the Tsaritsa's 
accession, then everyone was obliged to toss off a bumper 
of Hungarian wine with one knee on the ground in the 
presence of the Empress. On the eve of the great festival, 
the courtiers and officers of the Guards were admitted to kiss 
the hand of the Empress, who, at the same time, presented 
each with a glass of wine on a salver. 

The Empress loved dress and always wore the gayest 
colours. No one dared appear at court in black. Anne 
herself generally wore a costume of blue or green, and on 
her head the red handkerchief which was usual with the 
ordinary Russian women of the middle class at the time. 
It was she who conceived the whimsical idea of the house 
of ice, which inspired the poet Cowper with matter for some 
of his most beautiful lines. 

Another favourite whim with her was to keep a number of 
court buffoons, and instances are recorded of people who had 
offended her being made jesters for her amusement. Thus 
she took vengeance upon Prince Nikita Volkonski whose 
wife had done many acts of hostility to her in the reign of 
Peter II. The wife was imprisoned in a monastery and 
the husband appointed to a contemptible office at court. 
Literature was at a low ebb; we have already told how 
Trediakovski, who was more of a poetaster than a poet, 
underwent personal chastisement at the hands of the minister 
Volinski. 

A great many of the letters of the Empress have been 



144 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1737 

preserved. Many of them are addressed to her relative, 
Semeon Saltikov. In them she is always asking him to send 
her gossip of the most trivial kind. The Empress appears 
altogether to have been a woman of narrow capacity and 
incapable of really understanding State affairs. 

With the fall of Danzig Stanislaus lost all hope of retaining 
the Polish throne. He willingly surrendered it, preferring a 
quiet life and the pursuit of science to the heavy burden of 
governing a country distracted with feuds. The cabinet of 
Versailles, however, considered it discreditable to abandon 
the king's father-in-law, and not having succeeded in furnish- 
ing him with assistance at the time when it was wanted, now 
resolved to re-establish him on the Polish throne when it 
was too late. Louis XV. declared war against the German 
Emperor for his share in the election of Augustus. This 
war cost Austria dear ; her troops were everywhere defeated 
by the French and their allies : on the Rhine, in Milan, in 
Naples, in Sicily. In vain did the veteran Prince Eugene 
of Savoy direct all his efforts to resist the conquerors ; the 
other generals also failed; and Charles VI. trembled for Vienna 
itself. The Russian Empress sent a considerable body of 
men under the command of General Lacy to help him.' 
Before, however, the Russian soldiers had reached the Rhine, 
the French Cabinet had proposed terms of peace. Augustus 
was recognised as King of Poland, and a considerable portion 
of the territory which the French had conquered in the north 
of Italy was restored to the German Emperor. Charles on 
his side surrendered Lorraine to Stanislaus for his life, and 
on his death it was to be united to France. Charles also 
renounced his rights to Naples and Sicily, and peace was 
finally concluded at Vienna in 1738. Augustus made Biren, 
the favourite of Anne, Duke of Courland when the ruling 
house of the Kettlers had come to an end in 1737. As soon 
as Augustus III. had been securely seated on the throne of 
Poland, the Empress moved her forces to the Black Sea. Her 
object was to preserve the southern portions of the Russian 
dominions from the continued inroads of the Crimean 



1736] THE REIGN OF ANNE 145 

Tatars. From the days of the Emperor Alexis their in- 
vasions had not been so disastrous as formerly : they were 
kept at bay by the war-like spirit of the Cossacks who proved 
themselves excellent frontiersmen. When the Russians gained 
Azov these attacks became even rarer. This explains why 
Peter had been so unwilling to part with this outpost. As 
soon as the Russians had abandoned Azov after the treaty 
of the Pruth, the Tatars appeared in the government of 
Voronezh; they burnt many villages and carried off 15,000 
men into slavery. Soon after this they plundered the 
neighbourhood of Izum and Kharkov, and almost got 
possession of Astrakhan. Their insolence continuing to 
increase, Peter the Great had several times applied to the 
Porte urgently demanding that it would keep in order the 
Tatars of the Crimea who recognised in a way the suzerainty 
of the Sultan. The Turkish Government, either from weak- 
ness or out of ill-will to the Russians, did not attempt to 
acquiesce in the wishes of the Imperial Court, and the Tsar 
saw that it was necessary to employ force. At the close of 
his life all things had been got ready for an expedition. 
Troops had been collected in the Ukraine, at Briansk, 
and Voronezh ; some thousands of flat-bottomed boats had 
been built by which Peter intended at the same time to sail 
down the Dnieper and Don to the coasts of the Black Sea 
to break up these nests of robbers. The death of the 
Emperor delayed for a while the conquest of the Crimea. 
His plans found no seconder either in the reign of Catherine I. 
or Peter II. The Tatars accordingly took advantage of this 
inactivity on the part of Russia, and plundered the Ukraine 
in the old fashion. In the beginning of the reign of the 
Empress Anne, the Government of St Petersburg once more 
made an urgent demand for satisfaction to the Porte. The 
Sultan replied that the Tatars were a free people, and that 
there was no means of bringing them into order. But he 
soon afterwards showed the usual Turkish contempt for 
international law. He had entangled himself in a difficult 
quarrel with the brave Nadir Shah, and had begun to direct 
K 



146 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

all the forces of the Porte against Persia. He accordingly 
ordered the Khan of the Crimea to invade Daghestan. In 
vain did the Russian resident represent to the Divan that the 
Tatars could not reach the Caucasus except by passing 
through the Russian possessions on the Kuban and Terek, 
and that in order to do this the permission of the Russian 
Government must be asked. The Sultan would pay no 
attention. The Tatars moved in one entire horde and 
met the Russian forces between the Terek and the Sundja. 
Here they profited by the negligence of the Russian Com- 
mander-in-Chief in the Caucasus, the Prince of Hesse-Hom- 
burg, and broke through the scattered Russian regiments. 
They thus carried out the intention of the Sultan to commit 
a breach of international law, and, in so doing, aroused the 
keenest indignation in the Russian Cabinet. The Empress 
had only been waiting till Polish affairs had been settled to 
direct all her forces against the Tatars. As soon, therefore, 
as this was the case, Field-Marshal Munich received orders 
to devastate the Crimea ; General Lacy was to take posses- 
sion of Azov. Meanwhile Ostermann informed the Vizier 
of the rupture and the Sublime Porte of the dissatisfaction 
of Russia at what had occurred. A very good time had 
been chosen for this expedition. Turkey was engaged in a 
vexatious war with Persia, and had no means of giving any 
support to the Tatars. On the other hand, Russia could 
rely upon the support of Austria under the treaty of 1726, 
and still more upon her own soldiery led by Munich. The 
Russian forces had already surprised the Germans by their 
strict discipline and familiarity with war, in their descent 
upon the Rhine sometime before. The expedition was a 
complete success : Lacy got possession of Azov ; Munich, 
who neither spared himself nor his soldiers, quickly passed 
the steppe which separated the Ukraine from the Crimea, 
and met the whole horde on the line of Perekop, which was 
considered impassable. He now completely scattered the 
Tatar bands, took Perekop by assault, and devastated the 
western part of the Peninsula up to the actual capital of the 



1736] THE REIGN OF ANNE 147 

Khan, Bakchisarai, of which we now begin to hear for the 
first time. He could not, however, establish himself in the 
Tauric peninsula owing to want of provisions. He therefore 
blew up the fort of Perekop and returned to the Ukraine. 
The Khan, however, recovered from the blow inflicted upon 
him, and harassed the quarters of the Russian army during 
the entire winter. He still nourished the hope of saving 
himself by the assistance of Turkey. 

In the meantime the Sultan had succeeded in concluding a 
treaty with Persia, and being in no further fear of the terrible 
Nadir Shah, who had turned his victorious forces against 
Eastern India, he hoped to preserve some portion of the 
Caucasus. But, in truth, this was no easy task ; he had more 
foes than one to contend against. The German Emperor, 
Charles VI., showed an inclination to take up arms against 
Turkey. By the treaty of 1726 he was bound to assist the 
Russians with an auxiliary force of 30,000 men. On the 
present occasion he resolved to direct all his efforts against 
Turkey, no doubt in hopes of making up, at the expense of 
the Sultan, for the loss of his Italian possessions. The 
allies resolved to attack simultaneously all the European 
territories of the Porte, from the Sea of Azov to the 
Adriatic. Lacy was to invade the Crimea, and Munich to 
get possession of Ochakov, afterwards to be so celebrated in 
Potemkin's wars, and Bender. The Austrian generals were 
to drive the Turks out of Serbia, Bosnia, the parts of 
Croatia belonging to the Porte, and Wallachia ; so as to carry 
their arms across the Danube, and to decide the war with 
united forces in Bulgaria. The Russian generals fought 
well. Lacy devastated the Crimea. The Khan waited for 
him on the line of Perekop, with the whole horde and some 
thousands of Janissaries, in the firm resolve not to allow him 
to enter the peninsula. Lacy, however, chose another route 
by which he was not expected. He crossed Sivash or the 
Putrid Sea by a ford, made a forced march into the Crimea, 
and showed himself on the rear of the Khan. The enemy 
fled into the mountains. The Russians made the inhabitants 



148 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1739 

of the Crimea remember the expedition of Munich. The 
whole region was devastated ; the villages in the eastern part 
being reduced to ashes. 

Munich, who was already known among the Russians by 
the name of ''The Falcon" (Sokol), now appeared under the 
walls of Ochakov, which was strongly fortified and defended 
by a numerous garrison. He immediately ordered the place 
to be stormed. The Turks, however, were animated with 
the courage of despair, and though the Russians attacked 
vigorously, their position became dangerous. An uninter- 
rupted battle of two days showed the impossibility of taking 
Ochakov by storm, and that it would be necessary to lay 
regular siege to the city. The troops were suffering from 
want of provisions, and saw around them a limitless barren 
steppe, which could neither furnish food nor fodder. Miinich 
made up his mind to take the fortress. He himself led the 
Izmail regiment to the attack, and, amid a conflagration 
which lit up the whole city, planted the Imperial standard on 
its walls with his own hands. 

The Austrian generals did not experience the same good 
fortune. One marched into Serbia, and was driven thence 
by the Turks; another appeared in Bosnia, and was defeated ; 
the third suffered a complete disaster in Wallachia. All the 
three were superseded by the German Emperor in his dis- 
pleasure j but matters showed no signs of improving, and he 
was compelled to enter into negotiations for peace. But it 
did not escape the notice of the Turks that there was no 
longer a Prince Eugene in command of the Austrian forces. 
They, therefore, resolved themselves to dictate the terms of 
peace, and laid siege to Belgrade, which was the key to the 
Austrian territories. The Emperor now saw himself driven 
to make peace. He was in want of money, and his army 
was disorganised. He saw too that there was no real 
co-operation between the allies. He therefore turned to 
Louis XV., asking him to mediate. This task the Cabinet 
of Versailles gladly undertook, but really with the object 
of hampering the German Empire in accordance with the 



1739] THE REIGN OF ANNE 149 

principles of hereditary antagonism. It was doubtless owing 
to French intrigue that the Turks were able to get terms so 
much more favourable than they might have expected. In 
accordance with the request of Austria, Villeneuve, the French 
Ambassador at the Porte, took a part in the negotiations, and 
also offered his services to the Russian court. Ostermann 
thoroughly understood that the object of this so-called 
mediation was to destroy the Russian influence in the 
Black Sea, and refused the French offer accordingly. Here, 
however, Biren stepped in, the very evil genius of Russia, 
and persuaded the Empress to send to Villeneuve full 
powers for the conclusion of peace. The negotiations 
were opened under the walls of Belgrade, in the camp of 
the Vizier, who was secretly supported by France. Count 
Neiperg, the Imperial Ambassador, sustained a complete 
diplomatic defeat, and yielded all that the Turks wanted, 
and Villeneuve was just as compliant at the expense of 
Russia. 

Only a short time before the signing of the treaty Russia 
had gained another victory, another evidence of the advan- 
tageous position of which she was robbed by the mischievous 
interference of Biren, a wholly incapable man. At the time 
when the Vizier was besieging Belgrade, the Seraskier Veli- 
Pasha with a large army entered Bessarabia with the view of 
invading Russia. Munich had been only waiting for a chance 
of encountering the main army of the Turks, and at once led 
his troops against them, although far inferior in numbers. 
The two forces met at the village of Stavuchani, near Khotin. 
Veli-Pasha had fortified his camp, and, having surrounded 
Miinich on all sides, hoped to starve him into surrender. 
Miinich, however, according to his custom, led his columns 
in person, attacked the fortified camp of the Seraskier, got 
possession of the artillery and baggage, and drove the Turks 
in confusion to the Danube. A result of this victory 
was the fall of Khotin, which surrendered without firing 
a shot. 

We get a graphic description of the battle of Stavuchani in 



150 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i:40 

the memoirs of a Scotchman who accompanied the Russian 
forces in the capacity of surgeon. The Earl of Craufurd 
was also there as a Scotch soldier of fortune. It is remark- 
able how many Scotchmen from the time when Russia 
was opened to the English, in the reign of Ivan IV. down 
to the beginning of the present century, have entered 
the Russian service. We are often indebted to them for 
valuable descriptions of historical events. Thus Gordon 
is the authority for the campaign of Peter the Great in 
the Crimea. This battle took place in 1739. In con- 
sequence of it the Russians acquired a temporary footing 
in Moldavia. 

The Hospodar Ghika fled to the Turkish forces, and 
when Munich arrived at Jassy the leading officials met 
him with bread and salt, and agreed to recognise Prince 
Kantemir, the Russian general, as their hospodar in depend- 
ence upon Russia. The field-marshal hastened to reap the 
fruits of his successes, and was contemplating a descent 
upon the banks of the Danube so as to inflict there a 
decisive blow upon the Turks, when the unexpected news 
of the peace of Belgrade put a stop to his triumphant 
career. 

A treaty was signed within three days after the battle of 
Stavuchani. Austria restored to Turkey all that she had 
gained twenty years before by the victories of Prince Eugene, 
and gave up all her rights to Wallachia and the part of Serbia 
ceded to her by the treaty of Pozharevats (17 18). Moreover 
she gave up Belgrade and Orshova, and bound herself to 
demolish the fortifications of the former place. Thus were 
the unhappy Serbs, after a brief taste of civilisation, sent back 
to the yoke of their ignorant and unsympathetic Ottoman 
masters. 

In 1740, 150,000 Serbs emigrated to Russia and were 
established in the southern governments. Russia lost 
nothing, but also gained nothing, in spite of all her victories 
and sacrifices. Each expedition had cost her large sums 
and many thousands of men. The soldiers perished not so 



1740] THE REIGN OF ANNE 151 

much by the sword of the enemy as by want of provisions and 
the laborious marches over the steppes of the Ukraine and 
Bessarabia. To compensate the Russians for this lavish ex- 
penditure of money and men, the Sultan agreed to raze Azov 
to its foundations, so that neither Russia nor Turkey could 
find it of any service. Moreover, he was to cede to Russia 
the steppe between the Bug and the Donets. He was to 
have no further dealings with the Zaporozhian Cossacks ; 
Russian merchants were allowed to send their goods across 
the Black Sea but only on Turkish ships. Russia gave back 
Ochakov and Khotin to the Porte, and bound herself not to 
molest the Khan of the Crimea. 

No doubt Biren contributed much to make Anne un- 
popular, for the Germans were thoroughly detested. Even 
before the death of the Empress a conspiracy was detected, 
the main object of which was to get rid of the Germans, and 
proclaim as Empress, Elizabeth, the surviving daughter of 
Peter the Great. Finch, the English resident, wrote that if 
the wishes of the nation were consulted, Elizabeth would 
certainly be elected her successor; she was popular on her 
own account, and more so because she was the daughter of 
the great Tsar whose memory was so cherished by his 
subjects. The Dolgorukis were at the head of the conspiracy 
and were even able to direct it from Siberia, but they paid 
dearly for their audacity. They were brought to Novgorod 
and executed. Ivan, who had been the favourite of Peter II., 
before being decapitated was broken on the wheel. We have 
already spoken of the devotion of his wife Natalia. The 
graves of the two unfortunate princes are still to be seen at 
Novgorod. Magnan, in the reports to his government, says 
that Anne had been offended by the part which the Dolgorukis 
took in negotiating terms with her, and the pains taken to 
prevent persons of opposite views having access to her. 
Alexis and Ivan Dolgoruki were accused of having appro- 
priated the Crown jewels during the reign of Peter II., as 
well as of having taken money from the public exchequer 
without giving any account of it. The father was exiled to 



1 52 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [it* 

Yakoutsk and the rest of the family to Berezov, their goods 
being confiscated. Prince Vasilii was shut up in a monastery 
at Archangel, and a few months afterwards, as previously 
mentioned, Field-Marshal Dolgoruki was arrested and con- 
ducted to the fortress of Schliisselburg. 



1740J 



CHAPTER VII 

THE REIGNS OF IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 

'HP HE Empress Anne being dead, Biren succeeded to the 
-*• regency. But he was soon to be driven from the 
summit of power. In the last years of Anne he had shown 
himself an intolerable tyrant. The nobility could not hide 
their discontent, and some of the leading men resolved to ask 
the mother of the infant Emperor to take the helm of the 
state. They wished her to act in some such decisive manner 
as Anne Ivanovna had done when she put an end to the 
tyranny of the Supreme Council. They elected as their 
leader Prince Cherkaski, a man of weak character. He 
informed the regent of the danger which threatened him. 
Biren at once took his measures ; the participators in the 
conspiracy were seized and put to the torture. The capital 
was in a state of panic ; even the father of the baby Emperor, 
Prince Anthony Ulrich, on account of the part which his 
adjutant had taken in the conspiracy, was obliged to listen 
to the most insulting rebukes in the presence of the whole 
court, and received an order to resign the rank of general 
which had been given him by the late Empress ; and at length 
he was even arrested. The mother of the young Emperor 
trembled when Biren came to see her. An ukaze seemed on 
the point of being issued, by which she and her family would 
be sent from Russia. Biren had already threatened it during 
his sharp disputes with her husband. In the midst of the 
general stupefaction only the hero of Ochakov, Miinich, 
dared to withstand Biren. Influenced partly by pity for the 
Imperial family, and partly by disgust at the conduct of the 
regent, who would share his authority with nobody, and 



154 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1740 

perhaps even more allured by the hope of holding the helm 
of state himself, Munich opened his mind to the princess 
with a view of ridding both her and Russia of their 
tormentor. He only asked permission to use her name, 
and then took his measures. She gladly consented. As 
all classes of society were embittered against Biren, the 
field-marshal might safely have arrested him in broad day- 
light when visiting the princess. He could have shut him 
up in a fortress with the sure conviction that no one would 
endeavour to release him. Munich, however, effected the 
arrest at night, and laid hands on Biren in the latter's own 
palace, where he was surrounded with three hundred soldiers. 
Owing to the promptness of his adjutant, Mannstein, he 
accomplished this without shedding a drop of blood. The 
capital heard of the fall of Biren with the greatest joy, which 
found an echo throughout Russia. Finch reported to his 
government that Field-marshal Munich, at the head of a 
detachment of forty grenadiers, had gone to the Summer 
Palace and, in virtue of a verbal order of the Princess Anna, 
had seized the regent in bed, and caused him to be taken 
away prisoner. He adds significantly : " The Duke of 
Courland (Biren) has been deprived of all his money and 
of everything which he possessed, even of his gold watch and 
his clothes." Very minute details have come down of this 
picturesque revolution de palais, for such it may truly be 
called. 

Hedwig-Elizabeth, the daughter of Biren, had been dancing 
that night at a ball given by the Cabinet Minister Prince 
Cherkaski. She had come back late, and gone to bed very 
tired. She had hardly fallen asleep when she was suddenly 
aroused by terrible cries issuing from the bedroom of her 
parents. She leaped from her bed, wrapped a fur shuba 
round herself, and rushed to the scene of the noise. When 
she opened the doors of the duke's bedroom Hedwig was 
petrified with terror. She saw her father, half-dressed, and 
bound hands and feet, in the power of some Preobrazhenski 
guards. The duke was shouting and making frantic efforts to 



i74o] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 155 

escape: he was even biting those who attempted to detain 
him. The soldiers, however, treated him in the most un- 
ceremonious fashion, and tied his mouth with a handkerchief. 
They then wrapped him in a cloak, and dragged him into 
the street. The Princess Hedwig and her mother, weeping 
bitterly, entreated them to show pity, and begged to be 
allowed to accompany the duke. The officer in command, 
however, ordered them to be taken back to their rooms and 
to be kept under guard. When morning broke a court 
chinovnik appeared and politely requested them to give 
him the keys of all their boxes and drawers. He then 
placed the duchess and her daughter in a close carriage, 
on the box of which two police-officers took their seat, 
and ordered the vehicle to be driven to the monastery of St 
Alexander Nevski. Here, in the cell of the archimandrite, 
Hedwig found her father and youngest brother. The elder 
had been left in the city on account of illness. 

Anna Leopoldovna now declared herself governor, and was 
recognised as such without opposition. Biren was ultimately 
sent to the fortress of Schliisselburg. There he fell into com- 
plete despair, and in pusillanimous terror almost lost his senses 
when he heard the sentence of death pronounced by the 
Commission which had been appointed for his trial. The 
chief witness against him was his former friend, Bestuzhev, who 
hoped thereby to win the favour of Anna and Munich. This 
man afterwards confessed that his accusations had been ground- 
less. The Pravitelnitsa, as Anna was called, gave Biren his 
life and commuted his sentence into exile to Pelim, a little 
town of Eastern Siberia, 600 versts beyond Tobolsk. Here 
a special house was built for him according to the plan of 
Munich ; all his family shared his fate, and his property both 
in Russia and Courland was confiscated. On the fall of 
Biren the supreme government was centred in a cabinet of 
ministers, which now acquired a more regular organisation. It 
was divided into three departments. Munich as chief minister 
had the control of military matters ; Ostermann, who was 
created an admiral, superintended diplomatic relations with 



156 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1740 

foreign powers, and had the control of the fleet ; the Chan- 
cellor, Prince Cherkaski and the Vice-Chancellor Count 
Golovkin had the management of home affairs. The com- 
mand of the troops was entrusted to the father of the Emperor 
Prince Anthony Ulrich, who was made general-in-chief. He 
was a dull, heavy man — a kind of Prince George of Denmark 
— we can see this plainly from his portraits. 

Having as her advisers Ostermann and Munich, who both 
knew Russia so well, and so clearly understood her wishes and 
hopes, the princess endeavoured to keep the people well 
affected by deeds of gentleness and mercy. She began by 
releasing from imprisonment some thousands of innocent 
persons whom Biren had shut up in dungeons or sent to 
Siberia. She was gracious to all classes, and loaded the 
nobility and soldiers with presents. She restored any church 
lands which had been confiscated ; she encouraged trade and 
native industry ; she remitted taxes and caused a number of 
schools to be built. Considering what efforts Anna made to 
benefit the country the ingratitude with which she met seems 
inexplicable. There was, however, always the party of 
Elizabeth to be feared. Although that princess herself was 
idle and self-indulgent, her name could be used as a watch- 
word for those who wished to disturb the order of affairs. 
Anna, moreover, was occasionally capricious and apt to forget 
that she was surrounded by enemies. At the beginning of her 
short regency she was active, but afterwards became careless 
and averse to showing herself in public, and heard the reports 
of her ministers with reluctance. Married to a stupid man, 
for whom she had no real affection, she threw herself into the 
society of a few close confidantes, the chief of whom was 
Julia Mengden, one of her ladies-in-waiting, the Austrian 
Ambassador, the Marquis Botta, and the Saxon Ambassador 
Count Lynar. The network of intrigues fostered by these 
people set Anna at variance with her husband, prejudiced 
them against Munich and Ostermann, and ended by bring- 
ing about the downfall of Anna. In the old days the 
intrigues of foreigners did a great deal of mischief to Russia. 



1741] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 15; 

Anna did not trust Ostermann nor listen to Munich, but 
followed the suggestions of her flatterers. She was so unwise 
as to allow Russia to be implicated in foreign affairs in 
which the country had no real interest, as for instance in 
the quarrel between Austria and Prussia about Silesia. 
One of the consequences of this interference was the 
estrangement of Munich, who was one of the bulwarks of 
the youthful Emperor's throne. According to Finch, it was 
not sympathy with Anna that made him overthrow Biren. 
In the second place a disagreement arose with the court 
of Versailles. This made Sweden irritated against Russia, 
and was unwelcome to the Princess Elizabeth personally. 
She had always had leanings towards France. Frederick 
II. of Prussia on his coming to the throne not long 
before the death of the Empress Anne was desirous of 
wresting Silesia from Maria Theresa, the heiress of the 
Emperor Charles VI. The Kaiser had died in 1740, where- 
upon Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria, had put forward 
an absurd claim to the hereditary possessions of Maria Theresa. 
Frederick accordingly sought the friendship of the Russian 
court, and offered to conclude a defensive treaty with the 
Cabinet of St Petersburg. His overtures were welcomed the 
more eagerly because of his connection with Prince Anthony 
Ulrich, and because Munich could not pardon the eagerness 
with which the court of Vienna had entered into the treaty of 
Belgrade and so forced Russia to forego some of the most 
valuable conquests she had made. As we have already seen, 
however, the failure of Austria was due to the French Govern- 
ment, in its traditional hatred of that house, having encouraged 
the Turks to make greater demands. Accordingly a treaty was 
concluded between Frederick and Russia, under the terms of 
which each was to assist the other in every war except with 
Persia and Turkey. This accomplished, Frederick was not 
long before he invaded Silesia, and by the end of 1741 had 
occupied almost the whole province. Maria Theresa there- 
upon asked for the assistance of Russia on the basis of 
former treaties. Austria found a vigorous supporter in Count 



158 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [mi 

Lynar. His government urged him to use every effort 
to prevent any rapprochement between Russia and Prussia, 
and he had no difficulty in persuading Anna to ignore the 
treaty with Frederick. Nay more, she was ready to form 
an alliance with Maria Theresa against him. Munich, on 
the other hand, considering that Russia was bound to keep 
terms with Frederick, who had faithfully carried out his part 
of the treaty, espoused the cause of Frederick in the Cabinet, 
and opposed Ostermann, who generally held with the stronger, 
and who was implicitly followed by Count Lynar. Anna 
much resented the attitude of the Field-marshal, who 
accordingly sent in his resignation, which was accepted. 

It was a comparatively easy matter to lead Sweden into 
war. France in reality directed her policy. Ever since the 
time when Ulrika Eleonora, the successor of Charles XII., 
had allowed the Senate to limit the authority of the king, the 
nobility had held the supreme power. The nobles were divided 
into many sections, and, as a natural consequence, foreign 
influence made itself much felt in the affairs of the nation. 

After many disorders, which much weakened Sweden, two 
hostile parties were formed under the leadership respectively 
of Count Horn and Count Gyllenborg. Horn was the head 
of those who adopted a dignified policy, who were equally 
anxious for peace at home and tranquillity abroad. Especially 
were they desirous of peace with Russia. Gyllenborg led the 
party desirous of war. These two factions had now continued 
their struggle for ten years. Gyllenborg could rely upon 
French assistance, and his supporters had for some time 
been threatening Russia. They were eager to recover for 
Sweden the territory which Peter had won from her, and 
thought that an opportunity had presented itself, now that an 
infant was upon the throne of Russia and the regent was a 
woman. The French Minister seconded these views, and 
encouraged the Swedes in the idea that Russia was in a 
more or less helpless condition. Accordingly war against 
Russia was declared, and in the manifesto issued, the 
Russian nation was informed, among other things, that the 



1741] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 159 

Swedes were resolved to free Russia from the rule of foreigners 
and to raise Elizabeth to the throne. But, as already said, 
the true object of Sweden was to get back all that had been 
ceded to Peter by the treaty of Nystadt in 1721. Anna was 
perplexed at this declaration of war ; the more so because the 
Russian fleet during the rule of Biren had been very much 
neglected, and was now in a miserable condition. The 
Admiralty could not send a single ship to sea. The vessels 
were rotting at their moorings and there were no sailors. 
The reign of the Empress Anne Ivanovna had indeed been 
a sad one for Russia. The weakness of this gloomy and 
repellent woman had left everything in the hands of the 
minion Biren. Fortunately for the Russians the Swedes 
resolved to attack by land hoping to drive them out of Fin- 
land. The comrade of Munich, Field-marshal Lacy, hastened 
to anticipate their attack, and rapidly moved to Wilman- 
strand, where he met and defeated Wrangel, the Swedish 
general, whom he took prisoner with all his army. Fearing 
a similar fate, the Swedish commander-in-chief, Lowenhaupt, 
hastened to quit Russian territory. 

Triumph as this was for Russia, it was no less a triumph 
for France, in that the latter had succeeded in her design of 
entangling Russia in a northern war and thus preventing her 
from assisting Maria Theresa, The traditional policy of 
France had certainly been to humble the House of Habs- 
burg, but in return for Lorraine she had virtually guaranteed 
the Pragmatic Sanction. Meanwhile de la Chetardie, the 
French Minister at St Petersburg, was manoeuvring against 
the Regent in another direction. He was in close friendship 
with Lestocq, the physician of Elizabeth, a great master of 
intrigue. He had orders from his government to entangle 
Russia in the disputes which were leading up to the Seven 
Years' War between Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa, 
Anna, however, had no intention of sending an army to 
support the pretensions of Frederick, and the Marquis de la 
Chetardie hoped to accomplish more if the Princess Elizabeth 
was made Tsaritsa. His policy was seconded by the Swedish 



160 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [l7fl 

minister, but P'inch, the English resident, endeavoured to 
persuade Anna to embrace the cause of Maria Theresa. He 
was bent upon defeating the plans of de la Chetardie. Finch 
tried to ascertain what was going on, but found Ostermann 
reserved. The latter pretended to be ignorant of the whole 
matter, but this sort of conduct, says Finch, is in keeping 
with his character, "just," he adds, "as he pretended on the 
death of Peter II. to have the gout in his right hand so that 
he might not be obliged to sign the document which limited 
the power of his successor." Finch, however, got more out 
of the Duke of Brunswick who told him that he had the same 
suspicions about the French and Swedish ministers. De 
la Chetardie was continually having private interviews with 
Elizabeth, and was in intimate relations with Lestocq, who 
was a Hanoverian notwithstanding his French name. The 
Duke of Brunswick added that he had long suspected Munich 
of making advances to the Princess Elizabeth, and that the 
marshal had been for some time under his observation. 
Orders had been given that if he was seen to go to the house 
of Elizabeth at night, he should be seized alive or dead. 
Finally, however, Finch tells us Ostermann likewise opened 
his mind to him upon the subject. Finch was urged by him 
to invite Lestocq to dinner, that under the influence of wine 
information as to his secret plans might be extracted from 
him. "To this," the Englishman adds, " I made no response, 
for I believe that if ambassadors are held to be spies in the 
interest of their master they ought not to ply this trade for 
the benefit of others. Besides, my health does not permit 
me tonjuere vino." He concludes his despatch by regretting 
that Anna passed so much of her time in private in the society 
of her favourite Mademoiselle Mengden. On the other 
hand, Elizabeth was very obliging, affable, and personally 
very much liked. Finch, on December 20th. 1 740, describes 
the splendid presents she had just received. Moreover, the 
people could not forget that she was the daughter of the 
great Peter. He had now been dead fifteen years, and the 
country had been more or less on the verge of humiliation 



1741] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 161 

ever since. Finch then goes on to say that the situation 
might become very critical as so many of the Russians of 
the old school would willingly see St Petersburg and the 
conquered provinces at the bottom of the sea, and return to 
Moscow. Moreover, he adds, they hate foreigners. Mann- 
stein tells us that the ministry proposed to Anna that she 
should declare herself Empress. This project was especially 
favoured by Golovkin, and all preparations were made for 
proclaiming Anna Empress on the 18th of December, which 
was her birthday. But the plans were frustrated by the rapid 
movements of Elizabeth. 

Meantime the court was full of cabals. Anna would not 
allow her husband to have a vestige of authority, and opposed 
Ostermann in every way. A Russian party was being de- 
veloped in a great measure owing to the machinations of the 
Austrian Ambassador. Gradually Elizabeth allowed it to be 
seen that she was sensitive on the subject of her authority ; 
thus she was offended when the Persian Ambassador had not 
paid her a visit. She sent a message to Ostermann to the 
effect that she knew he was trying to humiliate her, and bade 
him remember that her father had raised him from a mere 
clerk. On the 26th of November 1741, Finch was able to 
communicate to his government this startling piece of in- 
telligence — "Yesterday at one o'clock in the morning the 
Princess Elizabeth went to the barracks of the regiment 
of the Preobrazhenski Guards accompanied only by Mr 
Vorontsov, one of her chamberlains, Mr Lestocq, and Mr 
Schwarz, who is, I believe, her secretary, and putting herself 
at the head of three hundred Grenadiers, she went directly 
to the palace." On a previous occasion in one of his 
despatches Finch had said that Elizabeth was too fat and 
comfortable to make a plot, quoting the lines of Shakespeare 
in Julius Caesar. He goes on to say that the young Tsar 
and his little sister, who were in bed, were seized, and likewise 
the Regent and her husband the Duke of Brunswick. Their 
arrest was followed by that of Munich and his son, Ostermann 
Golovkin, and several others. 



1 62 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1741 

Soon afterwards Elizabeth was proclaimed with unanimity 
Empress of Russia. At the conclusion of his despatch, the 
English envoy dwells upon the insolence of the soldiery. 
It remains to pass in review the political jealousies and 
counter struggles of the great Powers of which Russia had 
lately been made the theatre. It was the English who first 
thought of making use of the influence of Russia as a great 
factor in European politics. Instructions had been given to 
Finch (February 29, 1740) to bring about a close alliance 
between Great Britain and Russia, and to respect the treaty 
which had previously existed between Anne and the House 
of Austria. Frederick the Great had also cast his eyes upon 
Russia, and as soon as he ascended the throne had en- 
deavoured to establish good relations with the Cabinet of 
St Petersburg. His envoy, De Mardefelt, paid assiduous 
court to Ostermann, who was at that time at the head of 
foreign affairs. The latter was very favourable to Frederick, 
and he would only agree to a treaty with England on con- 
dition that Prussia, Denmark, and Poland were also included 
in it. But this did not suit the English Cabinet, as Finch 
tells us in his despatch of October 1st, 1740. The German 
Emperor, Charles VI., died on the 20th of the same month. 
The news of his death reached St Petersburg soon after the 
death of Anne Ivanovna. The intelligence was anything but 
agreeable to Ostermann. Lord Harrington, who was one 
of the English Secretaries of State, informed the English 
minister at Vienna that England would abide by the stipula- 
tions she had made with reference to the Pragmatic Sanction. 

As for Frederick, he had made up his mind to prefer his 
own interests to the obligations which his late father had 
undertaken. He knew the Russians well, and was convinced 
that they would be unwilling to support the Pragmatic Sanction. 
Of the Russians he always spoke with a real or assumed 
contempt, and avowed, with his usual cynicism, that the time 
of Anne's death would be a favourable period for the seizure 
of Silesia, because the Russians would find themselves 
hampered by a minority. 



1741] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 163 

The neutrality of Russia, however, was not acceptable to 
France, which was striving as much as possible to detach the 
country from her German connection. French influence was 
beginning to increase in Russia. De la Chetardie had long 
been intriguing to ensure the succession of Elizabeth, who 
had been destined at one time by her father to become the 
wife of Louis XV. It was his object to re-arouse something 
of the sympathy with France which had at one time existed. 
The Empress Catherine, the widow of Peter, had received 
discouraging replies when she had ventured to express similar 
views. French writers have not hesitated to regret this, and 
that at such a critical moment in her history Russia was 
thrown into the arms of Germany, It was then the time for 
the French to choose new allies. Sweden had been com- 
pletely exhausted by the mad pranks of Charles XII. Poland 
was most unmistakably approaching the agonies of dissolution, 
and the same appeared to be the condition of Turkey. With 
Anne Ivanovna had begun the influence of the Germans 
upon Russia, which was to weigh her down during the 
greater part of the eighteenth century. This accounts for 
the great energy displayed by De la Chetardie in his endea- 
vours to counteract it. Vandal, the historian, in a sentence, 
pointed with all the epigrammatic force of Tacitus, says : 
" The spectacle was presented of a French ambassador pre- 
paring a list of proscribed persons, and including in it all the 
members of the government to which he was accredited." 
Elizabeth has been blamed for the severe treatment which 
she accorded to Anna Leopoldovna and her family. De la 
Chetardie, however, is said to have recommended that they 
should be put to death, on the principle, no doubt, on which 
the execution of Strafford was recommended : " Stone dead 
hath no fellows." It is singular how often the Russians have 
been instigated or assisted in cruelties, for which they have 
been justly blamed, by foreigners who came from the more 
cultured countries of the West. Thus we find Gordon 
committing great cruelties upon the Streltsi during the 
absence of Peter. 



i6 4 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [mi 

The German party in St Petersburg had much hampered 
France in her course of continued opposition to Austria. In 
fact, the French historians dwell with particular delight upon 
the circumstance that the Treaty of Belgrade, by which 
Austria was obliged to hand back to Turkey some of her 
newly-made conquests, had been altogether planned by 
France. The attachment of the newly-made Empress to 
France was, as we shall see, really an abiding passion. Till 
the day of her death Elizabeth spoke of Louis XV. with 
enthusiasm ; perhaps the only human being who ever did so. 
But the union was not to be. The French king, by some 
curious piece of intrigue, married Maria Leszczynska, the 
daughter of the good Stanislaus. During the reign of Anne 
Ivanovna, France was anxious that Russia should join her 
against Maria Theresa. While Ostermann was in power 
there was but little chance that the overtures made by 
France would meet with success. Biren also sympathised 
with Austria. When Anna Leopoldovna had been proclaimed 
regent, Frederick's hopes had risen, seeing that the prince 
was his brother-in-law, and Munich was to be gained over. 
In the history of his own time Frederick tells us how he sent 
Baron de Winterfeldt as ambassador to Russia ostensibly to 
congratulate Anna and her husband on their accession to 
the regency. The real motive, however, being to gain over 
Munich, the father-in-law of Winterfeldt; and success crowned 
the mission. Finch announced to his government (December 
20th, 1740) the arrival of Major Winterfeldt, and he wrote a 
few days later to the effect that Munich thought that Austria 
ought to give Prussia satisfaction. These sentiments met 
with gratitude from Frederick. He gave to Malzahn, the 
son-in-law of Munich, a commission as colonel in his army ; 
he sent the field-marshal himself a diamond ring, and pre- 
sented his son with an estate on the Oder. The recipients 
on their side were equally grateful. Frederick tells us how 
Winterfeldt procured a treaty of alliance between Prussia and 
Russia. It was not long, however, before Munich fell into 
disgrace, and the treaty was put an end to by an alliance 



1741] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 165 

between the Queen of Hungary, Russia, Holland, and the 
King of Poland. This combination was an overwhelming 
blow to the King of Prussia, and shortly afterwards the 
revolution broke out which placed Elizabeth upon the 
throne of Russia. 

Lestocq has been regarded as the author of the revolution, 
but in reality he had only put himself at the head of public 
opinion. The Russians were tired of the German yoke, 
and in Elizabeth they found a Sovereign of true Russian 
descent. The requisite money had been furnished by De la 
Chetardie. Vorontzov was made minister. Finch notices 
the growing French ascendancy ; and, indeed, this was to be 
a reign of French sympathies. 

Lestocq had taken advantage of the confidence which 
Elizabeth reposed in him, and had continually reminded her 
of her rights to the throne ; of the attachment of the people to 
her, and how easy it would be to take the reins of power out 
of the hands of the weak Anna Leopoldovna. Elizabeth well 
understood the claims of her house, but she loved an idle, 
irresponsible life, and viewed with timidity the assumption of 
imperial duties. It is probable that she would never have 
made up her mind to seize the supreme power if Anna 
Leopoldovna had not more or less compelled her to do so in 
self defence, for the latter had planned to marry her to one of 
the smaller German potentates with the view of removing her 
from Russia. 

The fate of Anna and her family was a sad one. Elizabeth 
at first wished to send her with her son and husband to 
Germany ; but she afterwards seems to have reflected that a 
party might be formed with the object of placing Ivan upon 
the Russian throne. Accordingly Anna and her family were 
detained for more than a year in a fortress near Riga ; thence 
they were removed to Ranenberg in the government of 
Riazan ; and here Anna was separated from her son. She 
and her husband were sent to Kholmogori, a dreary place in 
the north of Russia, near which was the birth-place of the 
author, Lomonosov. 



166 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [me 

Their son Ivan was shut up in the fortress of Schlussel- 
burg. The unfortunate boy is added by some to the list of 
the Russian emperors. At his accession he was a mere baby 
of eight weeks old. Biren, and then his mother, ruled in his 
name. The two younger brothers and two sisters received 
their liberty in 1780, and were sent to Denmark, where they 
died. One of the daughters survived into the nineteenth 
century. We are told that when the offer came to the survivors 
to leave their prison they were unwilling to go ; continual 
seclusion had made them almost half-witted, and they had 
lost all zest for the world. The portraits of the children have 
been preserved in some silhouettes which were published a 
few years ago in the Russkaya Starina. They exhibit a 
rather heavy Teutonic type of feature. 

Anna only survived her downfall five years, dying in 1746. 
A few years before we read of her as dressed in crimson velvet 
embroidered with gold, with diamond bracelets. All this 
was to be exchanged for the miserable life and death of a 
State prisoner. Her husband, Anthony Ulrich, continued a 
wretched life of drinking and card-playing for thirty years 
longer. Many changes occurred in the Russian government 
but no heed whatsoever was taken of him. 

But in this wholesale condemnation of the German faction 
there were included some men who had done Russia good 
service. 

The Empress, who was now triumphant, and who on the 
occasion of assuming the reins of power, had been followed to 
the Winter Palace by the acclamations of the whole popula- 
tion, could have afforded to be lenient. She was at this time 
about thirty two years of age, and from the testimony of 
travellers was a woman of comely appearance. 

Munich, Ostermann, Golovkin, and others, were sentenced 
to be executed, but their punishment was commuted into 
banishment to Siberia. Finch, the English envoy, sent to his 
government a striking account of the behaviour of some of 
them on the scaffold, whither they were taken under the 
impression that they were to be put to death. Ostermann 



1741] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 167 

was actually obliged to put his head on the block, but was 
then pardoned. He displayed the greatest sang-froid, and 
when he got up quietly asked them to give him back his wig. 
It is painful to think that this man to whom Russia owed so 
much did not live to return. He died in Siberia. Oster- 
mann was born at Bockum in Westphalia in 1686; when in 
Holland he became secretary to Cruys, whom Peter had 
made admiral. Peter had met him on board Cruys' vessel, 
and finding that he was a clever young man and had a great 
knowledge of modern languages, he took him into the diplo- 
matic service. We have already seen how he rose to fill 
some important posts in the Russian government. He 
became completely Russianised, and married a rich Russian 
lady. Munich never quailed in the least when on the 
scaffold. He told his guards that they had found him brave 
enough when he had led them to battle, and they would 
find him brave now — the hero of many a fight was to be 
dauntless to the end. 

The prisoners soon commenced their dreary journey to 
the Siberian snows. Munich was to be deported to Pelim, 
whither Biren had been sent. He is said, indeed, by Mann- 
stein to have been confined in the same prison which he 
himself had designed for Biren. We are also told that his 
banishment had followed so closely upon that of Biren that 
he overtook the latter at a passage of the Volga, where he 
had been detained some time by a flood. Biren seems 
to have been fortunate in getting a minimum of punishment. 
Elizabeth had him removed from Pelim to Yaroslavl in 
European Russia, where he was interned indeed, but under 
a far milder system of discipline. The brave Munich was to 
languish in exile for twenty years, till Peter III. came to the 
throne. Ostermann was sent to the dreary town of Berezov, 
where Menshikov had died, and the Dolgorukis had suffered 
their imprisonment. There he also died in 1747. Golovkin, 
Lowenwold and Julia Mengden also ended their days in 
Siberia. 

If the adversaries of Elizabeth were somewhat severely 



1 68 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1741 

dealt with, she had lavish rewards for her supporters. Lestocq 
received a pension of 7000 roubles a year, was continued as 
the physician of the Empress, and made head of the depart- 
ment of medicine in Russia. The three hundred grenadiers 
also received their reward. Elizabeth formed a bodyguard, 
the common soldiers of which had the rank of lieutenant, and 
of which she assumed the captaincy herself. 

We must now return for a while to the intrigues of the 
Continental Powers in Russia, some of whom had con- 
tributed, as we have seen, not a little to the eventual 
triumph of the new Empress. 

Frederick of Prussia was anxious to know what the policy 
of Russia was to be, but it was difficult to forecast. If De la 
Chetardie had had as much influence as we are led to believe 
he possessed, there can be no doubt that Elizabeth would 
immediately have made an alliance with France and have 
sent to the assistance of Frederick the very troops which had 
assembled in Livonia to march against him. Lestocq was 
in favour with France, but Bestuzhev, who as chancellor 
directed foreign affairs, had leanings towards England, and in 
consequence towards the Court of Vienna. As to the Empress, 
she had not, as Frederick saw, a predilection for any of the 
Powers in preference to the rest ; but she clearly regarded 
with coldness the courts of Vienna and Berlin. Anthony 
Ulrich, the father of the Empress whom she had dethroned, 
was cousin-german to the Queen of Hungary, nephew of the 
Empress Dowager, and brother-in-law of the King of Prussia. 
She was therefore not without fear that the ties of blood 
would cause those Powers to intervene in favour of the family 
upon whose ruins she had established her rule. Bestuzhev, 
however, would probably in due time have overcome the 
repugnance of Elizabeth : Russia in alliance with England 
and Austria would have declared war against Prussia, which 
would have been taken in the rear. From day to day the 
English influence increased, and the neglect of public 
business by Elizabeth made Bestuzhev master of the situa- 
tion. Wych, the new English Minister, thus wrote on October 



1742] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 169 

21, 1742 : "As the Empress likes hunting very much, and is 
generally very tired at night, the Ministers have seldom an 
opportunity of introducing State affairs to her notice." Wych, 
however, managed to manipulate both Lestocq and Bestuzhev, 
the former receiving a pension of ^1000 a year from the 
English king. But Elizabeth still remained undecided and 
could not be induced to enter into an alliance with England 
and Austria. The Marquis of Botta Adorno, the Austrian 
Ambassador, who has been previously mentioned, made 
persistent efforts to win over Elizabeth. He is said to have 
encouraged a plot to put Ivan on the throne, which was dis- 
covered after he had left the country. Certainly many persons 
were punished by the Secret Chancery because they were 
supposed to have participated in a plot of the kind. The 
Queen of Hungary neither acknowledged nor repudiated the 
impeachment. Frederick, however, to whom Botta Adorno 
was accredited as minister after he left Russia, professed to be 
much shocked at his conduct, and refused to receive him. 
Such terms as he could secure from Russia were insignificant, 
and he attributed the failure of his overtures to Bestuzhev. 
The Court of Versailles also cordially detested Botta Adorno 
because he had opposed the policy of De la Chetardie. The 
latter was therefore again sent to Russia to compass, if possible, 
the disgrace of the obnoxious minister. In this he was seconded 
by the Prussian envoy, De Mardefeldt. It was at this time 
that a marriage was negotiated between Peter, the heir of 
Elizabeth, and Sophia of Anhalt Zerbst, afterwards the world- 
famous Catherine. This Peter was the grandson of Peter the 
Great, being the son of his daughter Anne, who died in 1728, 
by Karl Friedrich, the Duke of Holstein ; the latter survived 
his wife eleven years. The support given to him by Peter the 
Great and the pains he took to bring about the marriage have 
already been mentioned. 

Frederick laid much stress on the marriage which he, too, 
was on this occasion furthering. He thought that a Russian 
princess of German origin and brought up in Prussian terri- 
tory must needs retain some affection for her native country. 



170 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1742 

In his celebrated memoirs he dwells on the necessity of being 
friendly with Russia, although in terms very uncomplimen- 
tary to the latter power. Catherine, however, when she 
became a Russian grand-duchess, found that in order to be 
popular she must get rid of all sympathies except those that 
she entertained for her adopted country ; and, later in life, 
she used to tell her surgeon to bleed her so that not a drop 
of German blood should be left in her veins. 

The young Duke of Holstein, who was the nephew of the 
Empress, and destined to succeed her, arrived in St Peters- 
burg in 1742, being then only thirteen years of age. Eliza- 
beth soon began to look out for a wife for him. Among 
others the Princess Ulrica of Prussia, the sister of Frederick, 
and the Princess Marianne, the daughter of Augustus of 
Saxony and Poland, were thought of. There were, however, 
obstacles in the case of both these ladies, and Sophia of 
Anhalt-Zerbst was eventually chosen. She was born at Stettin, 
May 1 st, 1729, being the daughter of the governor of the 
city, Prince Christian August, and the Princess Johanna 
Elizabeth. The latter was of the Holstein family, and, 
therefore, a connection of her daughter's future husband. 
In the memoirs published by Herzen in London nothing is 
said of the early life of Sophia. She is reported to have 
written a playful biographical sketch for her friend the 
Countess Bruce, but the manuscript is now lost. In 1776, 
in her correspondence with Baron Grimm, she jokingly 
alludes to her reminiscences of Stettin and the dull life she 
had led there. 

The young lady, provided with a celebrated letter from her 
father, which is still to be read as a curious specimen of the 
style of a German prince at that time, arrived in St Peters- 
burg in February 1744, and her marriage with Peter was 
celebrated in the following year. 

Meanwhile Mr Tyrawly, the new English minister to St 
Petersburg, was doing his best to get the Russian Court to 
enter into an alliance with George II. He wrote to his govern- 
ment to the effect that the Russian attitude of thought was 



1745] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 171 

that they were too strong to be attacked on their own terri- 
tory, and did not care the least as to what was going on in 
other parts of the world. According to Tyrawly, Bestuzhev 
was now engaged in devising some way of persuading the 
Tsaritsa to take possession of the dominions of the King of 
Prussia and to hand them over to the Poles, who in return 
were to give up such portions of their territory as were 
inhabited by Orthodox Christians. He thought that the 
Empress might be captivated with this idea, and he knew 
that he could count upon the support of the clergy. But 
the plan, although concocted by Bestuzhev and the English 
resident, did not commend itself to Elizabeth. One strong 
reason against it was that, owing to her extravagance and 
liberalities to her favourites, the treasury was almost empty. 
The only thing which could dispose her to undertake a war 
would be the granting of very large subsidies. Frederick on 
his side thoroughly realised this fact, but he was far too poor 
to offer any resistance ; all he could do was to bribe her 
ministers. Accordingly he sent a considerable sum of money 
to be divided between Bestuzhev and Vorontsov. Maria 
Theresa also sent them some valuable rings hoping to gain 
them over to her side. 

Frederick had resumed his war with the Austrian Empress, 
and his troops had entered Bohemia. Bestuzhev, who, in spite 
of the presents which he had received, still nourished a dislike 
of Frederick, continued to urge Elizabeth to declare war. 

The English resident seconded his endeavours, and in the 
despatches to his government declared that Vorontsov, the 
chancellor, was the only obstacle. But Elizabeth was not to 
be shaken, and England now sent Lord Hyndford. But the 
new ambassador, although he promised an immediate subsidy, 
was no more successful than Tyrawly had been. Elizabeth 
could not be induced to declare war against Frederick, 
although, according to an English despatch of November 3, 
1745, she spoke very depreciatingly of him. Whatever her 
reasons for disliking him may have been, they were soon rein- 
forced by some satirical remarks which he had made and which 



172 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [ms 

were duly reported to her. Lord Hyndford meanwhile took a 
very different course. He was all compliment, and among 
other pleasant things said that her Majesty had the heart of a 
man and the beauty of a woman. 

Frederick, however, had his usual good luck in tiding over 
difficulties. His great military talents now began to indicate 
him as the first captain of the age : he was able to make 
advantageous terms both with England and Austria, and 
under the circumstances did not trouble himself much about 
Russia. He did not scruple, therefore, to withhold from 
Bestuzhev the bribe which he had promised, and that 
minister became in consequence very anti-Prussian : his 
animosity was accentuated by his impecuniousness, and it 
was not long before he became the sturdy beggar and boldly 
demanded a gratuity from the English ambassador. Lord 
Hyndford made this request the subject of one of his 
despatches ; but England also had no further need of 
Bestuzhev, who had in consequence to look to other 
quarters for supplies. In 1748 the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 
was signed, and it was by the influence of England that 
Russia was one of the signatories and was thus treated as 
one of the great Powers. It was, however, of an ephemeral 
nature, and only brought about by the temporary exhaustion 
of Austria. She was in reality preparing for another attack. 
She could not brook the loss of Silesia, and her policy was 
to effect as close a union as possible between Russia and 
herself, and to provoke a quarrel between Elizabeth and 
Frederick. This was not a difficult thing to do, for 
Bestuzhev still nourished his resentment. An occasion 
soon offered itself. A triple alliance had been concluded 
between France, Prussia, and Sweden, at which the Russian 
Cabinet took offence, and large bodies of troops were massed 
on the Prussian frontier. At the end of 1750 the Russian 
ambassador left Berlin, and Frederick also recalled his 
minister from St Petersburg. England was not behind hand: 
she offered Russia a subsidy, and the latter undertook to 
have an army of 60,000 men ready in Livonia, and also a 



1755] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 173 

fleet for operations by sea. The plan was approved of at 
St Petersburg, and the only thing wanting was the signature 
of the Empress, which, however, was continually withheld on 
the most frivolous pretexts. The English minister, Mr Guy 
Dickens, wrote in 1755 to say that Bestuzhev showed quite 
as much aversion to business as his mistress. He also has 
much to say about the continual round of gaieties which was 
going on at the court. In this same year we find him in- 
forming his government that he was too old to endure the 
constant festivities which a foreign minister was expected to 
attend. He was accordingly replaced by the versatile and 
fashionable Sir Charles Hanbury Williams. The new minister 
received the most stringent orders to revive the treaty with 
Russia. He had been an intimate friend of Sir Robert 
Walpole, and naturally one of his political adherents. Austria 
laid down as one of the conditions of her alliance with Eng- 
land that she must be assisted by Russia against France. She 
was anxious to get back Silesia, and therefore the Russians 
must be secured at any price. Kaunitz, the Austrian prime- 
minister, was continually urging this upon the English, and 
Sir Charles Williams put the policy into practice. He wrote 
to his government, naming the sums by which the various 
Russian officials could be bribed ; and on the 9th of August 
he was able to report that a convention had just been signed 
with Russia, the principal object of which was the support 
of that country against France and the co-operation with 
Austria. Bestuzhev received for the help which he gave to 
the undertaking ten thousand pounds besides the ordinary 
diplomatic presents. Williams suggests that a good deal of 
this money would go into the coffers of the Empress, and he 
adds " since she is at the present time building two or three 
large palaces, she must be in need of it." In a later despatch 
he dwells upon the facility with which the Russian court was 
to be manipulated. He even states the sum for which, in 
his opinion, the Empress herself could be purchased. " Fifty 
thousand pounds more or less for the private use of the 
Empress would have a great effect." 



174 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1756 

The English government, however, did not altogether 
approve of the convention which Williams had concluded. 
But it succeeded in so far as it maintained good relations 
with Austria, and Kaunitz expressed himself entirely satisfied 
with it. The English ministers therefore ratified the conven- 
tion, but in order to leave a door open for reconciliation with 
Frederick on some future occasion, communicated the terms 
to the Prussian monarch. England was not prepared to 
make a sacrifice simply to gratify the resentment of Maria 
Theresa. Her point of view was well described in a despatch 
of Lord Holderness to the English minister at Berlin (October 
ioth, 1755) ; "our object is France, that of Austria is Prussia. 
She will not help us against France unless we make Prussia 
an enemy and assist her to regain what she has lost in the 
last war. Assuredly in our present condition it would be 
folly to enter into such projects." These views were known 
to the German Empress and her advisers, and precautions 
were taken against them accordingly. Among other measures 
Austria sent to St Petersburg Count Zinzendorf without any 
apparent object, but the watchful Sir Charles Williams was 
not long before he began to suspect that Austria and Russia 
were making a secret treaty without the knowledge of England. 
The English government had, as we have said, communicated 
to Frederick the terms of the convention already made with 
Russia, to which nothing but the signature of the Empress 
was lacking. Frederick showed his usual presence of mind 
and energy : he laboured to become the ally of England 
instead of her enemy, and on June 16, 1756, he signed a 
treaty by which England and Prussia guaranteed to each 
other the integrity of their respective dominions. Never 
surely was there a greater diplomatic entanglement and dis- 
play of state-craft. 

Elizabeth made no haste to ratify the convention, and 
Williams speaks of it as paving lain five days on her table. 
Finally, however, the ratification took place on the 25th of 
February. This convention was practically nullified by a 
clause to the effect that it was to have no value except in the 



3756] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 175 

event of the King of Prussia attacking the possessions of the 
King of Great Britain or those of his allies. This was hardly 
likely to happen, seeing that England had just concluded a 
treaty of mutual guarantee with Prussia. In his despatch the 
English minister describes the conversation which took place 
between him and Bestuzhev, and how the latter complained 
that he had not yet received the money promised him. In 
the midst, however, of the plotting and counter-plotting going 
on everywhere around him, to which it must be acknowledged 
he himself contributed a considerable share, Williams now 
began to look into the possibilities of the future. The Empress 
was in a feeble state of health, and it was now calculated that 
she could not live more than six months. The rising sun to 
be worshipped was the Grand Duchess Catherine, who, to 
judge by the masculine spirit which she showed, was sure to 
rule her husband as soon as she ascended the throne. Williams, 
who was an exceedingly clever diplomatist, had not only 
bought Elizabeth's ministers, but had established himself on 
an excellent footing at the little Court of the Grand Duke and 
his wife. The latter was very favourable to an alliance 
between England and Russia, and Williams was able to 
inform his government that the Grand Duchess had spoken 
to him with enthusiasm of the English king, and with much 
coldness of the King of Prussia. She had forgotten that to 
the latter she in reality owed her position. But there is no 
gratitude in politics, and she was as ready to cut herself 
adrift from the Prussian connections of her family, in the 
army of which country her father had been an officer, as 
Sophia the wife of Ivan III. was to forget the Latin teach- 
ings of the Roman court where she had received alms as an 
orphan. 

On May 1st, 1756, France and Austria signed the treaty of 
Versailles, and on the 27th of the same month England 
formally declared war against France. Meantime Williams 
informed his Government that vast bodies of men were being 
massed in Livonia, the number of which was said to amount 
to 140,000, but that he was not able to fathom the plans of the 



176 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i756 

Russian Cabinet. He only mentioned that the hatred felt by 
the Empress for the King of Prussia seemed to be very great. 
Keith, however, the English minister at Vienna, assured his 
government that there was a close alliance between Austria 
and Russia. But it was not only with Austria that England 
had to deal ; France had gradually regained a great deal 
of her influence there. A few years before M. Du Chatelet, 
the French ambassador in London, had had a personal 
quarrel about precedence with the Russian ambassador 
Chernichev. The latter pocketed the affront, but Elizabeth 
resented it, and recalled her ambassador from Paris. In 
order to renew the relations which had thus been interrupted, 
the French court despatched a certain Scotchman named 
Douglas, one of the broken-down adherents of the Pretender, 
who was ready to embrace any opportunity of bettering his 
fortunes. Douglas seems to have performed his task ex- 
cellently, and soon re-established friendly relations between 
the French and Russian courts. The Scotch adventurer did 
not allow his mission to be easily discovered ; and when the 
suspicious Austrian ambassador asked him why he had come 
to Russia, he answered : " At the advice of my medical man, 
who recommended me to try a cold climate for the benefit of 
my health." Williams now found himself obliged to inform 
his government that the Russian court was growing ill-affected 
towards England. According to the despatches which he sent 
home, this change was entirely owing io the influence of Ivan 
Shuvalov, the great patron of letters, of whom we shall speak 
presently ; he was at this time a favourite at court, and 
had a pe?icha?it for all things French. While, however, 
Douglas was anxious to be in favour with the moribund 
Elizabeth, Williams busied himself with paying court to the 
Grand Duchess Catherine. The latter made a downright 
demand for a sum of money from the English, and Bestuzhev 
also again became importunate. The English cabinet finally 
agreed to give the Grand Duchess 20,000 ducats, and 
to pension Bestuzhev. While these complicated intrigues 
were in progress, Frederick, feeling that the time of action 



1756] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 177 

had come, at the beginning of September entered Saxon 
territory. On the first of October 1756 he defeated the 
Austrians at Lowositz, and the Saxon troops thereupon laid 
down their arms. The success of the Prussian king completely 
disconcerted his adversaries. 

The Queen of Hungary sent an emissary to the Russian 
empress with the object of inflaming her against Frederick. 
She insinuated that the latter really had designs upon Russia, 
and meant to put the young Ivan upon the throne ; to this 
Elizabeth replied that if he attempted anything of the kind 
she would have Ivan's head cut off. 

Meanwhile the great force massed in Livonia still remained 
inactive, and as Williams informed his government, the 
general in command was ludicrously incapable. The English 
minister thus writes (September 18, 1756): " Apraksin is to 
command the Russian army. He has been recently made 
field-marshal. He is the idlest of men, and cowardly to a 
degree. A little while ago he was grossly insulted and almost 
beaten by the hetman of the Cossacks (Cyril Razumovski), 
and he shewed no resentment whatever." Williams goes on 
to tell us among other things that this redoubtable hero was 
enormously stout. 

Frederick now made use of Williams to convey to Bes- 
tuzhev a present of a hundred thousand crowns in order to 
induce the latter to espouse his cause. The English ambassador 
has described in his despatches how the dishonest minister 
waxed more favourable to Frederick, the more he offered him, 
and finally wound up by promising to serve the Prussian 
monarch as soon as an occasion offered itself. 

According to the account given by Frederick himself in his 
writings, he had found among the State papers at Dresden, 
when that city came into his power, a letter from Bestuzhev 
to the Count de Briihl, urging him to poison the Russian 
resident at that court. The fact that Frederick had got 
possession of this letter must have put Bestuzhev in his 
power. Be this, however, as it may, Bestuzhev remained 
faithful to Frederick, though he in reality relied much more 
M 



178 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1757 

upon the Grand Duchess Catherine and her husband. The 
latter on one occasion defended the Prussians in the council, 
but was silenced by the Empress. Frederick, however, 
although he had begun the war successfully was far from 
confident. He told the English envoy, Mitchell, that the 
house of Brandenburg itself was at stake. He had already 
France and Austria against him, and could not hope to with- 
stand them if Russia arrayed herself on their side. 

Hostilities, which had been suspended by the severity of 
the winter, were now to be resumed. The most important 
thing was to ensure that the vast Russian army should not 
move. Mitchell wrote to Williams that the Prussian king 
thought the best thing to do would be to give a sum of money 
to Apraksin to induce him to delay marching, which, the 
king added, he might do under various pretexts. But even 
as late as two months afterwards Williams informed his 
colleague that Apraksin had sent an orderly to get him twelve 
suits of clothes from St Petersburg, from which it would 
appear that he was in no hurry to move ; and inactive he 
would probably have remained had he not received orders 
from the Empress to begin the campaign at once. He had 
83,000 men under arms, and the Prussian frontier on the side 
of Russia was almost entirely undefended. 

On the 30th of June Apraksin appeared before Memel, 
which capitulated in five days ; and on the 30th of August, 
Marshal Lehwald, Frederick's general, was completely beaten 
by the Russian general in the great battle of Gross-Jaegers- 
dorf, in eastern Prussia. The aged general ventured to attack 
the Russian camp. The Germans lost 4000 slain, and 600 
prisoners and 29 guns were taken. 

Apraksin might now, in fact, have crossed the Oder and 
taken possession of Prussia, but he made no use of his 
victory, and retreated across the Niemen, retiring into winter 
quarters in Poland as if he had been beaten. The cause of this 
was manifest when the papers of the chancellor, Bestuzhev- 
Riumin, were examined. It was then discovered that he had 
been tampered with. 



1758] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 179 

Meanwhile Sir Charles Williams was recalled by his 
government, as it was felt that the English policy had met 
with a considerable check. On quitting Russia, however, he 
received a kind letter from the Grand Duke Peter, and a still 
more enthusiastic one from the Grand Duchess, who assured 
him that it would be one of the occupations of her life to 
bring Russia into close relations with England, so that they 
might attack France in common; the greatness of which 
country, she added, is the disgrace of Russia. 

The Grand Duchess was no doubt implicated in the plot 
by which the progress of Apraksin had been checked. 
Bestuzhev was immediately arrested and punished. The 
field was now open for the manoeuvres of Austria and France. 
Douglas, the Scotch adventurer, had been recalled, and his 
place taken by the Marquis de l'Hospital, with the title of 
ambassador. There were naturally loud complaints against 
Apraksin, whose conduct was only explicable on the sup- 
position that he was doing all he could for Frederick. The 
Empress was induced to remove him from his post, and to 
appoint Fermor commander-in-chief in his place. 

William Fermor was of English extraction, and connected 
with the same family which claimed the famous Arabella, the 
heroine of the " Rape of the Lock." He had been the 
favourite adjutant of Munich, and was an excellent artillery 
officer and engineer; he had been made colonel for his 
services in the Turkish expedition in 1736, and had served 
with Lacy in Finland in 1741. He was thus not a mere 
carpet-knight as many of the Russian commanders were. 
Apraksin was summoned to St Petersburg to explain his 
conduct. His treason in connexion with Bestuzhev and the 
Grand Duchess was only too evident. But he soon disappeared 
from the scene, and died in August 1758. 

Frederick still continued to believe that Elizabeth might 
yet be brought over to his side, and the same opinion was 
held by the English. Keith, the successor of Sir Charles 
Williams, as the envoy of the British government, was a man 
much his inferior. Bestuzhev hoped that he would be able to 



iSo 



A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 



[l7oi 



tide over his troubles by the help of this man. But before the 
latter could reach St Petersburg, the Russian chancellor had 
already been overthrowr* He was arrested February 24 on 
the charge of having conspired to dethrone the Empress and 
hand over the crown to the Grand Duchess. The fallen 
minister was sentenced to death, but his punishment was 
commuted into exile to one of his estates 120 versts from 
Moscow. The chancellorship was then given to Michael 
Vorontsov. Keith seems to have found the English party 
at the lowest ebb and himself powerless. Meanwhile the 
Russians had crossed the Polish frontier without paying any 

^OJIATDOJIJ^ J75S 




attention to the protestations of the Republic, and devastated 
the Prussian territories wherever they went. Fermor made 
himself master of Konigsberg, Thorn and Elbing, and laid 
siege to Kiistrin. But the battle of Zorndorf (August 25, 
1758) in Eastern Prussia proved that Frederick was not 
altogether a negligible quantity. In this sanguinary battle 
the Russians lost about 20,000 men, killed, wounded, and 
taken prisoners, and 103 guns, but the loss of the Prussians 
was also very great, and Frederick showed no desire to renew 
the conflict. The command was now taken from Fermor and 
given to Peter Saltikov, a member of an illustrious family, but 
hitherto a man of no mark as a commander. He was born in 



1759] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 181 

1698, and had been sent by Peter the Great to be educated 
in France. On his return in 1734 he was made chamberlain 
and major-general, and had fought against the Swedes in 
1742. 

The new commander took ample vengeance upon Frederick 
at Kunersdorf, near Frankfurt on the Oder (August 12, 1759), 
where the Prussian monarch suffered a crushing defeat. 
Fermor was present at this battle, but only as commander 
of a detachment. The Russian army had got possession of 
Frankfurt and took up a strong position on the hills between 







the Oder and the village of Kunersdorf. Here it was joined 
by 18,000 Austrian cavalry under the command of General 
Laudon. The number of the allied forces amounted to 
60,000 men. The Prussian king lost all his artillery, amount- 
ing to 200 guns, 7000 killed, 4500 taken prisoners, and about 
8000 wounded. His suite had difficulty in removing him 
from the field of battle, on which he lingered, hoping that 
some friendly shot would put an end to his existence. His 
fortunes were now at their lowest ebb, and he meditated 
committing suicide. Mitchell, the English resident at his 
court, wrote to say that Prussia was exhausted. In spite, 
however, of the desperate state of his affairs, Frederick laid 



1 82 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1762 

aside 150,000 crowns to be distributed among the ministers 
and principal councillors of Elizabeth. He knew by the 
despatches of Keith that the Russians were getting tired of 
the war. Meanwhile the ill-health of the Empress continued ; 
the Grand Duke looked forward to the time when her death 
would allow him free action. 

Elizabeth still continued to hate Prussia, and seems to have 
cherished the idea of a permanent annexation of a part of that 
country. Ivan Shuvalov, who was now high in her favour, 
even ventured to broach the subject to Keith, with the view of 
ascertaining how far the Russians might look for assistance from 
the English in the matter. But Keith rejected his overtures. 
The Russians in the campaign of the following year (1760) 
committed terrible ravages in Prussia under Todleben, a 
German in the service of the Empress. They entered and 
pillaged Berlin ; the arsenal was destroyed and a contribution 
levied upon the city. The king on hearing of the savage way 
in which Todleben was conducting the war uttered the 
memorable words : " We have to do with barbarians who are 
digging the grave of humanity." We shall hear of Todleben 
afterwards as being employed in wars in the Caucasus. 

Even the English government, now under the new ministry 
of Bute, began to think of giving Frederick up as lost. He 
was on the very verge of ruin, when, what was for him a piece 
of supreme good fortune, the Empress, who had long been 
ailing, expired on January 6th, 1762. 

The foreign affairs of Russia during her reign had been 
chiefly confined to participation in the Seven Years' War. 
With Sweden and Turkey she was at peace. 

In 1755 tne nrst R uss i an university, that of Moscow, was 
founded through the influence of Ivan Shuvalov, who was the 
Maecenas of his time, and is remembered as the patron of 
the poet Lomonosov, and others. St Petersburg was orna- 
mented with many handsome buildings ; French architects, 
musicians, and painters made their appearance. The palaces 
erected by the Tsaritsa were, however, chiefly from the 
designs of the Italian Rastrelli. Volkov opened a theatre 



1764] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 183 

under the patronage of Elizabeth, and the stage became a 
national institution. 

In this reign, too, was established a kind of political 
inquisition, empowered to examine into and punish all dis- 
loyal remarks and criticisms upon the government. Even in 
our own days prosecutions for this kind of offence are not 
wholly unknown. This naturally gave an opening to in- 
formers. Accusations under the title of Slovo i dielo (the 
word and the deed), had been heard of since the time of the 
Emperor Alexis, but hitherto they had not received official 
recognition ; as a consequence, a great number of people 
were sent to Siberia during the reign of Elizabeth. 

Literature, too, was raising its head. Kantemir, a man to 
whom Russia owes a great deal, had flourished in the time of 
Anne. He had been ambassador both in London and Paris. 
Professor Aleksandrenko of Warsaw has given us an insight 
into the learning of this remarkable man by printing the 
list of his books, already alluded to; his habits have been 
carefully chronicled by the French spies who watched him. He 
died in 1744. He was the son of the Hospodar Demetrius 
Kantemir, who was so much mixed up with Peter's un- 
fortunate expedition to the Pruth. 

Trediakovski, the court poet during the reign of Anne, 
possessed but little merit as a writer. His dull epic the 
Telemakhida was a subject of jest among the wits of the 
reign of Catherine II. She is said to have made any courtier 
who committed a breach of etiquette at one of her evening 
parties learn by heart a certain portion of this dismal pro- 
duction by way of penalty. Trediakovski, however, did much 
to improve the style of Russian versification. 

The glory of the reign of Elizabeth was the brilliant and 
discursive Lomonosov, epic and lyrical poet and writer on 
scientific subjects. He also compiled the first Russian 
grammar published in Russia. As has been already men- 
tioned, one had appeared at Oxford in 1698. The story of 
the life of Lomonosov is very interesting. He was born near 
Archangel, the son of a poor fisherman. He contrived to 



1 84 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1762 

find his way to Moscow with a load of fish, and was admitted 
to one of the schools there. He was afterwards sent to 
Germany to complete his education, and finally attained to a 
very high position in his native country. He died in 1765. 

Mention must be made of the dramatic author Sumarokov, 
interesting in many ways. Although, strictly speaking, a 
native drama had not been formed in the country, Sumarokov 
had the good sense to choose national subjects for his plays. 
He was the first Russian professional author, and had all the 
caprice of \.hzge?ius irritabile. His periodical writings remind 
us in some measure of the style of the Spectator. He also first 
introduced the Russians to a knowledge of Shakespeare by 
his adaptation of Ha 7/1/et, which, however, differed very much 
in form from the original. Sumarokov survived into the age 
of Catherine, and died in 1777. 

In the reign of Elizabeth, too, died Basil Tatistchev 
(1686-1750), who was both a statesman and an historian. 
He compiled a kind of history of his native country, which, 
if not exactly a critical work, was in advance of the chronicles 
which up to that time had been the only historical productions. 
It was not published till after his death. 

In religious matters Elizabeth was a strict devotee of the 
Church, and very much given to going upon pilgrimages to 
the sacred places in Russia. In her reign the clergy regained 
some of the influence which they had lost through the reform- 
ing measures of Peter. Prokopovitch, the great agent of the 
regeneration of the Church, had died as early as 1735 at the 
age of fifty-five. 

The condition of the peasants was also by no means 
improved under Elizabeth, as she allowed masters to send 
their refractory serfs to Siberia. As regards the personal 
character of the Empress, she was certainly idle and fond of 
luxury and finery, but she does not seem to have been a cruel 
or vindictive woman. Thus, she had some pity for the family 
of Biren ; she had even wished to put him again in possession 
of his duchy of Courland : but was probably deterred from 
doing so by her minister Bestuzhev. She rendered his im- 



1762] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 185 

prisonment, however, milder. From the rigours of Pelim he 
was removed to Yaroslavl, and allowed to enjoy a portion of 
the revenues of his duchy. Lestocq, who at the beginning of 
the reign had great weight with the Empress, persuaded her 
to employ Bestuzhev in the place of Ostermann in her relations 
with foreign powers. The Tsaritsa assented, but Bestuzhev, 
who seems to have been throughout a contemptible fellow, 
requited Lestocq by undermining his influence with Elizabeth. 
In 1742 De la Chetardie quitted Russia, carrying off with him 
presents to the value of a million francs. It was in this year 
that Bestuzhev was made chancellor. In a short time De la 
Chetardie, as we have seen, returned to Russia with a secret 
mission to entangle the Empress in the European war then 
going on ; but Bestuzhev had different views, and De la 
Chetardie consequently aspired to overthrow him. The latter 
had an ally in the Princess of Anhalt Zerbst, the mother of 
the future grand duchess, who was in her sympathies devoted 
to Prussia, which, we must remember, was then on the side of 
France. Bestuzhev caused copies of the correspondence of 
De la Chetardie to be submitted to the Empress, who found 
in it some things which were very unacceptable to her. It is 
impossible to disentangle the threads of this complicated plot, 
but it ended in De la Chetardie being treated with ignominy 
and eventually expelled the country ; and Lestocq was ruined 
in the estimation of the Empress. 

France did not show any resentment for the way in which 
Elizabeth had treated her ambassador. On the contrary, it 
was the policy of that court to stand on as good terms as 
possible with Russia. 

Lestocq by the machinations of Bestuzhev was accused of 
high treason and brought before the secret commission which 
was very active in the reign of Elizabeth. He was several 
times put to the torture, and eventually banished to Uglich, 
and afterwards to Ustiug Veliki, near Archangel. The large 
fortune which he had acquired was distributed among his 
enemies. But Elizabeth led on the whole a troubled life, 
and imagined herself surrounded by conspirators. Lord 



1 86 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1762 

Hyndford, the English minister, wrote to his government as 
follows on the 7th of June 1745 : — " A man was found con- 
cealed behind the curtains who wished to kill the Empress. 
The most cruel tortures could not force a word from him. 
Elizabeth is a prey to such terrors that she rarely remains more 
than two days in the same place, and few people know where 
she sleeps." It is said that she was married secretly to Count 
Razumovski, a man of humble origin, who first attracted her 
attention in 1737 by his being an excellent singer in the royal 
chapel. His name appears to have been really Rozum. His 
gaining the favour of the Empress was the signal for the rise 
of his family, who were poor rustics in the ^Ukraine. They 
now became members of the highest Russian aristocracy. 
His brother Cyril was made hetman of the Cossacks and 
president of the Russian Academy. He became very popular. 
Bolotov, the author of the diary, has some extraordinary tales 
of his magnificence; 100 people fed every day at his table. 
Pushkin severely lashed parvenus of this kind in his celebrated 
poem, " Moya Rodoslovnaya " (My Genealogy). All agree in 
saying that Razumovski used with moderation the great 
influence which he had acquired over the Empress. On the 
day of her coronation she made him grand huntsman, and 
finally he became count ; and although 

He never set a squadron in the field 
Nor the divisions of a battle knew 
More than a spinster 

he was eventually created a field-marshal, and received 
"very splendid presents from the Empress. A man who stood 
very high in the Tsaritsa's favour was Ivan Shuvalov. He 
was of a noble and ancient family, but poor. From his time 
dates the great influence of the French language and French 
fashions in Russia which prevailed almost to our own days. 
So much was the former cultivated that the ladies of the 
aristocracy were practically ignorant of their native language. 
Readers of Pushkin will remember how this failing is satirised 
by the poet in his " Eugene Oniegin." The mother of 



1762] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 187 

Turgueniev invariably used the French language, and only 
employed Russian as the means of communication with her 
serfs. It was Shuvalov who induced Voltaire to write his 
well-known life of Peter the Great. 

The English ministers continue to speak in their Reports of 
the unbounded license and extravagance which prevailed at 
the court. They express natural doubts about the stability of 
such a government. M. du Swart, the minister of the Nether- 
lands, in a despatch of 1757, speaks of the Empire as being 
abandoned to pillage. The Empress amused herself, and the 
courtiers plundered wherever they chose. Up to this time 
Russia had in reality mingled very little in the politics of 
western Europe; her external affairs had been confined to 
Sweden, Poland, and Turkey. It was the English who first 
thought of bringing the influence of Russia to bear upon the 
balance of power. Instructions were given to Finch the envoy 
(February 29, 1740) to establish a close relation between 
Great Britain and Russia, and to strengthen the treaty 
which had previously existed between the Tsaritsa Anne 
and the house of Austria. Frederick the Great had also cast 
his eyes upon Russia, and as soon as he ascended the throne 
he endeavoured to establish friendly relations with the Cabinet 
of that country. The only addition to Russian territory 
during this reign was that secured by the treaty of Abo, 
August 18, 1743. By this Russia acquired the southern 
part of Finland as far as the river Kymene, with the towns 
of Friedrichshamn and Wilmanstrand and the remaining part 
of Carelia with the fortress of Nyschlot. The story about a 
Princess Tarakanov, a daughter of Elizabeth by Razumovski, 
who was living in Italy and decoyed back to Russia in the 
reign of Catherine II. by Orlov, does not seem to have any 
grounds to support it. According to this legend the wretched 
Princess was drowned in a subterranean prison. It has, 
however, been made the subject of a novel and a famous 
painting. Among important men in the reign of Elizabeth 
may be mentioned the Scotchman Keith who fought in the 
Russian war with the Swedes in 1741. In 1747 for some 



1 88 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [17a 

cause or other he left Russia, and Frederick the Great 
received him into the Prussian Service with the rank of 
Field-Marshal. He fell at the battle of Hochkirchen in 
I75S. 

Rumiantzov, afterwards destined to achieve a considerable 
reputation in the reign of Catherine II., was born in 1725. 
With the rank of Major-General he fought throughout the 
Seven Years' War, and was present at Zornsdorf and 
Kunersdorf. At the latter battle he commanded the centre 
of the army. His subsequent career will be described under 
the reign of Catherine. 

Alexander Yasilievitch Suvorov was the most eccentric of 
all the Russian generals, and the man who has lived the 
longest in popular legends. Volumes of stories have been 
published about him, and his extraordinary habits of crowing 
like a cock and leading the troops in his shirt sleeves. He 
seems, however, to have thoroughly understood the Russian 
soldier and to have exercised great influence over him. 
Suvorov was born in the year 1729 ; his father was a general 
and a godson of Peter the Great. The family is said to have 
been of Swedish origin : the ov being merely added to Russify 
it as was done in the case of Lermontov. Suvorov entered 
the Guards in 1754 with the rank of an officer; and in the 
Seven Years' War distinguished himself by his bravery, and 
attained the rank of Colonel. His subsequent career will be 
fully discussed in the proper place. He is the great military 
hero of the times of Catherine. 

Peter Ivanovich Panin was the descendant of a noble 
family which is said to have emigrated to Russia from Italy. 
He was born in 1721, and entered the Guards. He was in 
the campaigns under Munich in 1736, and with Lacy in 
Finland in 1742, and at the beginning of the Seven Years' 
War he held the rank of Major-General. He distinguished 
himself at Gross-Jaegersdorf, and was wounded at Zorndorf. 
He fought at Kunersdorf and was at the taking of Berlin. 

Alexander Ilich Bibikov, the son of a Lieutenant-General, 
was born in 1729, and entered the corps of engineers. He 



1762] IVAN VI. AND ELIZABETH 189 

travelled into Saxony and Prussia, and by the knowledge 
which he had thereby acquired, he was able to perform great 
services at the beginning of the Seven Years' War ; he dis- 
tinguished himself at Zorndorf, Kunersdorf, and Kolberg, 
and in 1762 was made Major-General. 

We will conclude our account of the reign of Elizabeth 
with the description of her given by Cook, the Scotch surgeon. 
He has been already cited during the reign of Anne. "She 
deigned," he says, " to advance to the place where I stood, 
and with all the graceful sweetness with which goodness 
could inspire an illustrious personage, was pleased to say 
' we have been informed of you : we desire that you'll take 
as good care of the good old count's health as you have done 
of Prince Goiitzin's, for which you shall gain our esteem.' 
She stretched out her hand which I considered as a high 
distinction, and most respectfully kissed it. I had frequently 
seen the Empress, but never was so nigh her before. She 
was of a large stature and inclinable to be fat, but extremely 
beautiful ; and in her countenance I saw such mildness and 
majesty that I cannot in words express them. Her hair was 
black, and her skin white as 'snow unsunned.' I humbly 
answered that her majesty's orders should be obeyed most 
religiously. She was pleased to say, with a placid smile, that 
she doubted nothing of it, and in an instant retired. At this 
time Count Razumovski was attending her Majesty. It is 
really surprising that a fat though young woman could move 
so cleverly as the Empress did, in so much that I could 
scarce hear her feet upon the floor ; but indeed her august 
presence had much disconcerted me." 



[1762 



CHAPTER VIII 

PETER III.— CATHERINE . 

T^LIZABETH was, according to the settlement of the 
-*— ' crown which she had made by virtue of the ukaz of 
Peter, succeeded by her nephew Peter. The genealogy of 
this unfortunate man has already been fully explained. He 
had succeeded to his father's duchy of Holstein in 1739, and 
there he might have ended his days in peaceffegetating in 
petty dignity. At the request of his aunt he came to Russia 
in 1742. It is singular that the Swedes had, a short time 
previously, offered him their crown with a view of propitiating 
Russia. They chose, however, ultimately Adolphus Frederick 
of Holstein, also connected with the Russian royal family, 
and were thus enabled to secure more advantageous terms 
in the treaty of Abo, following on the little war which they 
had had with their powerful Slavonic neighbour. 

The new emperor, as we can see plainly written in his 
portrait and can gauge by every action, was a thoroughly 
weak man, and Russia was a country that a weak man could 
not rule. His face is that of a man who has weakened himself 
morally and physically by self-indulgence, and we know only 
too much of his brutal orgies from the revelations of Catherine 
in her Memoirs and the reports of the foreign ministers. 

Sophia, the German princess, who had entered the Greek 
Church under the name of Catherine, and now became 
empress, was a woman of extraordinary talent. Sir C. 
Williams, the English resident, seems to have thoroughly 
appreciated her vigorous character. He had expressed him- 
self to that effect in the despatches which he wrote to his 
government. The clever English intriguer had assisted the 
190 



1762] PETER III.— CATHERINE 191 

young Stanislaus Poniatowski in his position at the Russian 
court. In 1757 Poniatowski had been minister at St Peters- 
burg from Warsaw. But the position of Catherine had 
frequently been imperilled during the last days of the 
empress. The latter seems to have had some idea of once 
more placing on the throne the former sovereign, Ivan, now 
languishing in the gloomy casemates of Schlusselbarg. The 
Dutch minister declared in a letter to Sir A. Mitchell that 
the poor youth had been brought to the Winter Palace at 
St Petersburg where the empress had an interview with him. 
The probable intentions of Elizabeth were the subject of 
much discussion. 

Poniatowski, who was mixed up with many intrigues, was 
recalled by the King of Poland. He contrived, however, 
under some pretext, to remain in Russia. The influence of 
Catherine was then much on the wane, and in consequence 
she was neglected by the political intriguers. She was quite in 
disgrace with the empress, and in an interview with her pre- 
tended to wish to go back to her country, but Elizabeth, whose 
resentment never seems to have lasted long, soon forgave her. 

The English minister writes that the Empress at a court 
fete had a long conversation, and seemed very cordial, with 
Catherine. This was in May 1758. Their reconciliation was 
at the time considered a blow to French interests, but if so it 
was not of long duration ; and during the last three years of 
the life of Elizabeth, Catherine remained in retirement. 

On the 5th of January 1762, Keith wrote to his govern- 
ment, "The Empress died this afternoon at two o'clock. 
She caused the Grand Duke and Duchess to be sent for, and 
took a very tender adieu of them. As soon as she was dead 
the senators, ministers, and other State functionaries took the 
oath of allegiance to Peter III., for whom the generality had 
the most profound contempt." 

The first act of the reign of Peter was a complete reversal 
of the policy of Elizabeth. He was an ardent admirer of 
Frederick the Great, and in Russia had taken a pleasure in 
dressing his favourite regiment in the Holstein uniform. He 



192 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1702 

at once sent orders to the Russian generals to make an 
armistice with the man whom he regarded with such venera- 
tion. During the last years of the reign of Elizabeth French 
influence, as we have already seen, had been paramount. 
Peter seems to have embraced every opportunity of display- 
ing his contempt for that power, and to emphasise matters at 
once sent off some French actors who were in the country. 
A treaty was concluded with the Prussian king in 1762, by 
which Russia abandoned all the fruits of her victories. No 
guarantee whatever was exacted from Frederick, who had 
been in the very depths of despair. On the other hand, it 
has been pointed out that Russia was gaining nothing by this 
contest with the Prussian king. The war had been begun 
from personal pique, and no national question was involved 
in it ; while it had already cost her a great deal of blood and 
treasure. 

The abandonment of the war was not an unpopular 
measure, and in other respects the new Tsar began his 
reign well. He abrogated the law by which Peter the Great 
had compelled all members of the Russian aristocracy to take 
some State function. He also put an end to the secret 
chancery which had exercised such terrorism during the reign 
of Elizabeth. This was not, however, to be the last which 
the Russians were to hear of it. It became active once more 
during the reign of Catherine II., and the chief inquisitor or 
head of the secret police, Sheshkovski, was a man of infamous 
reputation. Peter's next step was to recall from banishment 
various political offenders who had figured prominently in the 
last reign. One of the first to come back was the adventurer 
Lestocq. He was followed by Munich and his son ; and by 
Biren, in whose case, however, the severity of the sentence 
had, as we have seen, been relaxed, the Empress Elizabeth 
having allowed him to live in the provincial town of Yaro- 
slavl. Ostermann, to whom Russia owed so much, was 
dead. 

Keith had some startling episodes to communicate to 
his government on their return. Loth Biren and Munich 



1762] PETER III.— CATHERINE 193 

appeared at Court and were treated by the Emperor with 
much distinction. The two men, once such bitter enemies, 
seem to have met without rancour and even with a certain 
amount of politeness. Time and suffering had softened their 
mutual animosities. Munich died five years afterwards at 
the age of eighty-four, and Biren, who was seventy-two when 
he returned, lived till 1772. He was restored by Catherine 
to his duchy of Courland, the inhabitants of which seem to 
have cordially detested him. He was a bad, unscrupulous 
man, and one feels that if he had ended his days in Siberia 
he would have only had his deserts. He had brought un- 
merited sufferings upon many people. Munich, on the other 
hand, had been a brave general, and his name is conspicuous 
on many a page of Russian history. For the few remaining 
years of his life he was made governor of Riga. The Siberian 
climate does not seem to have had a prejudicial effect upon 
the health of these prisoners any more than in the case of 
many of the Dekabrists, the Muraviovs, and others who 
returned at an advanced age in the reign of Alexander II. 

An attempt on the part of Peter to confiscate lands belong- 
ing to the monasteries met with general opposition. Such a 
measure had indeed been beyond the power of his great 
ancestor, Peter. In exchange for the lands he assigned to all 
classes — from archbishops to monks— a proportionate fixed 
income. This attempt was undoubtedly one of the principal 
causes of his downfall, in that by it he lost the support of the 
clergy; we shall, however, see how it was afterwards suc- 
cessfully carried out by the more capable Catherine. 

The Emperor showed great partiality for the English ; he 
constantly invited Keith, the minister, to his table, and this 
probably caused the latter to send home to his government 
such favourable accounts of the new sovereign. The French 
minister, who was treated with neglect, had very different 
stories to tell. He has plenty of information about the 
licentious conduct of Peter and his continued fits of drunken- 
ness. Catherine was treated with contempt, although Fred- 
erick, who took Peter under his protection, so to speak, was 

N 



194 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1762 

continually recommending him to consult his wife. Peter, 
however, paid no attention to his admonitions in this respect, 
and the memoirs of the Princess Dashkov and of Rulhiere 
are full of stories illustrative of the excesses of the Emperor 
and his quarrels with Catherine. We have also Catherine's 
own Memoirs, which were published some forty years ago by 
Herzen in London. 

Peter made himself additionally ridiculous by aping German 
manners and showing a childish idolatry for Frederick the 
Great. He used to prostrate himself before the portrait of 
the latter, and boasted that with his assistance he would 
conquer the world. While, however, treating his wife in such 
a brutal fashion, his puerile and irresolute character placed 
him completely in her power. He talked about building a 
special prison in which she should be immured for the rest 
of her life. 

Meanwhile the Empress was gaining the popular favour 
more and more. With great tact she contrived to assume 
the part of an adherent of the old Russian school ; an attitude 
peculiarly agreeable to a people who had been groaning under 
German exploitation since the beginning of the reign of 
Anne. 

Peter now allowed himself to become embroiled in a petty 
war with the court of Denmark, which he accused of attempt- 
ing to appropriate some of his Holstein dominions. His 
mentor, Frederick, gave him some valuable advice on this 
subject. He recommended him to be crowned at Moscow, 
and reminded him that if he left Russia to lead his troops 
against the Danes, as he talked of doing, serious com- 
plications might occur in his absence. Had not the revolt 
of the Streltsi broken out during the absence of Peter the 
Great ? 

Peter, however, turned a deaf ear to all these wholesome 
admonitions, and went steadily on in the path of destruction. 
Catherine, meanwhile, was gathering a powerful party round 
her. At first the idea seems to have been to proclaim as 
sovereign her son Paul (born in 1754), but this did not at 



1762] PETER III.— CATHERINE 195 

all fall in with her plans, even though she was to be appointed 
regent. She was greatly assisted at this time by the clever 
and somewhat unscrupulous Princess Dashkov, one of the 
most remarkable women produced by Russia or any other 
country. 

It was she who managed to win over Panin, the governor 
of the young prince. The latter at first, as did also Count 
Chernichev and others, who favoured the idea of a revolu- 
tion, only contemplated that Catherine should be regent 
during the minority of her son; and the English minister, 
Shirley, in a despatch of March 10, 1762, wrote home to 
this effect. Now, however, a new adherent of Catherine 
came on the scene in the person of Gregory Orlov, 
one of the famous brothers, who from this time forward 
were to figure so prominently in Russian history, and 
who have cast a lurid light over the affairs of half 
a century. He was a man of gigantic stature, ready 
for any violent action ; such as Tacitus would have loved 
to describe. Orlov and his brothers were invaluable to the 
Empress in sowing the seeds of dissension among the various 
regiments ; while Panin, Chernichev, Razumovski, and 
others pulled the strings of the more widely-spread political 
conspiracy. 

About this time, we read, Peter paid a visit to the 
fortress of Schliisselburg, built on an island at the entrance 
o Lake Ladoga, where was still confined the young 
Tsar Ivan, the monarch of a few days. The casemate in 
which the latter was kept a close prisoner, and where his 
tragic fate occurred, as will be afterwards narrated, are 
still to be seen. Peter is said to have found the poor 
youth in an almost imbecile condition ; Rulhiere, however, 
tells us that he conceived the idea of releasing him and 
making him his heir. 

Meantime, the plot concocted by Panin and others pro- 
gressed vigorously. Two other important persons mixed up 
with it were Cyril Razumovski, the brother of the favourite 
of Elizabeth, and Vorontsov. But it was the prolonged 



196 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1762 

drinking bouts and absurd actions of Peter which more than 
anything else favoured the intriguers. He had become ridicu- 
lous in the eyes of the nation. He would begin his drinking 
bouts early each evening and continued them till he was 
dead-drunk. Meanwhile, blind to all that was going on, he 
was still threatening his wife and declaring that he intended 
to get rid of her. 

After his visit to Ivan, Peter retired to his country house at 
Oranienbaum where he recommenced his life of pleasure. 
In two days, however, on July 8th, 1762, the revolution 
broke out. It has been accurately described in the pages of 
Rulhiere, whose details are confirmed by the reports of the 
ministers ; Keith informed his government that so mighty a 
change had been effected without shedding a drop of blood. 
The city wore its usual appearance ; the only noticeable 
thing being the pickets of soldiers stationed at the tops of the 
bridges and the corners of the streets. Pasek, one of the 
subordinates, had almost revealed the conspiracy in a fit of 
indiscretion, but the Princess Dashkov, then only a young 
woman of twenty years of age, aroused Alexis Orlov at 
night. The latter at once set out to summon Catherine and 
tell her that all was ready. She was then residing at Peter- 
hof, and escaped with him unnoticed by a back gate. After 
being somewhat delayed on the road she reached St Peters- 
burg at six o'clock in the morning. It was at Peterhof that 
she had long been concocting her measures. A well-known 
picture represents her getting into a carriage just as the morn- 
ing was breaking. Like Elizabeth she went at once to the 
various barracks so that the soldiers might be gained over. 
She succeeded with all except a cavalry regiment of which 
the Emperor was colonel. The officers refused to join her and 
were put under arrest. Keith, the English minister, wrote back 
to his government that the whole affair was over in two hours. 
It was like one of the revolutions which Tacitus records ; 
Peter knew nothing about what had taken place till the middle 
of the day. He then went from Oranienbaum to Peterhof 
with the idea of seizing the Empress, but found that she had 



1762] PETER III.— CATHERINE 197 

left the place. He had neglected the most ordinary precautions 
and had not even secured the possession of the military chest, 
so that he was without the means of paying any troops who re- 
mained loyal to him. He became bewildered and was unable, 
till it was almost evening to form any fixed plan. He then, with 
a small suite, got on board a vessel lying at anchor off Peter- 
hof and made for Cronstadt in hopes of being received there. 
But Talietsin, the commissioner of the Admiralty, and Vice- 
Admirai Mardison, who had been sent thither in the morning 
from St Petersburg, refused to let him land and even threat- 
ened to fire upon him. Thereupon the party in bewilderment 
made for the opposite bank, on reaching which, some retired 
to Peterhof, and others to Oranienbaum. The Emperor 
with a few attendants was among the latter. On Saturday 
morning he learned that the Empress was approaching with 
a large body of troops. He thereupon sent Prince Golitzin 
and Major-General Izmaelov to negotiate. The latter re- 
turned with a paper drawn up in the form of an act of 
abdication ; this the Empress signed and rode off with the 
General. 

Keith adds that it was reported that these terms allowed 
him to retire to Holstein. This was July nth, 1762. His 
friends seem now to have deserted him. He had estranged 
the clergy and the army, and the nation in general was dis- 
pleased with his dragging them into a war with Denmark on 
account of his Holstein duchy. Meantime Catherine was 
carrying all before her. When she saw Munich, who had 
survived so many strange revolutions of fortune, she said : 
"So it was you, Field-Marshal, who wanted to fight me." 
"Yes, madame," replied Munich vigorous as ever, "could I 
do less for the prince who delivered me from captivity ? But 
it is henceforth my duty to fight for you, and you will 
find in me a fidelity equal to that with which I had devoted 
my services to him." 

The Empress received with her son the homage of the 
citizens and the revolution was a fait accompli. Keith, the 
minister, in his despatches gives pretty much the same 



198 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [l762 

reasons for the collapse of the power of Peter, as we have 
above stated, so too does the French minister ; but the 
latter lays more stress on the absolute poltroonery of Peter, 
who although he had fifteen hundred Holstein Guards still 
remaining loyal, had not the courage to make use of their 
services. Munich, who for a long time had continued his 
adherent, advised him to go to the army on the frontiers of 
Prussia, and to return at the head of it. But Peter abandoned 
himself to his fate almost without a struggle. He now wrote 
a letter to the Empress asking her to pardon him, to give him 
a pension and to allow him to retire to Holstein. But the 
Empress replied by despatching Izmaelov to conduct him 
from Oranienbaum to Peterhof. He was there closely con- 
fined and treated with indignity. The outside world now 
saw no more of him. On the 16th of July he asked for a 
favourite pug dog, his negro Narcissus, his violin, some novels, 
and a German Bible. 

The Revolution was now over. Those who had advocated 
a simple regency became silent; while others who had in- 
clined to the election of Ivan seemed to abandon their plans. 
But although Catherine was now acknowledged Empress she 
could feel no confidence in her position so long as Peter 
lived, and his name could be used as a rallying cry. The 
latter was conducted by slow stages towards Schliisselburg 
on the morning of the 19th of July. While proceeding on 
his journey he stayed at a little country house in the village 
of Ropsha. There Alexis Orlov, who commanded the escort, 
and a subaltern officer named Teplov, were seen to go into 
his room. What there occurred will never be known, but 
it is certain that Peter was not again seen alive. It was 
said that he had died of colic, but the French minister 
relying upon the testimony of Peters valet, wrote to his 
government that the Emperor had first been poisoned ; but 
the poison not acting with sufficient rapidity, he had been 
strangled. 

It appears that either from prudence or pusillanimity, for 
which he was reproached by Louis XV., Breteuil, the minister, 



1762] PETER III.— CATHERINE 199 

had left St Petersburg abruptly for Warsaw. He handed 
over the care of the embassy to his chancellor, Berenger, and 
a young attache named Rulhiere. The work of the last- 
named has become one of the great authorities for the events 
of this revolution. He also wrote a history of the Anarchy in 
Poland, and it was these two works which procured him the 
honour of being elected member of the French Academy. 
Chastelux, to whom the function of receiving him was com- 
mitted, complimented him in true French style as having 
wielded the pen of Tacitus in places beyond even those 
where that of Ovid became stationary between his frozen 
fingers. 

According to the account of another French minister, 
Alexis Orlov at a later period of his life was heard to express 
great remorse for the crime he had committed. But the 
story to the effect that when Orlov came subsequently to 
England as ambassador, people gazed with horror on his 
thick fingers because they were known to have accom- 
plished this crime, must be ascribed to the rhetoric of 
Macaulay. 

The body of the unfortunate Emperor remained exposed to 
view for three days in one of the churches of St Petersburg, in 
order that no impostors might afterwards arise and take his 
name. The bystanders clearly noticed the blackened visage 
of the unfortunate man and the marks upon his throat. 
According to the despatch of the English minister, thousands 
of people flocked to see the corpse. Three days afterwards, 
Peter was interred in the cemetery attached to the monastery 
of St Alexander Nevski, and not among the other Tsars in the 
Petropavlovski church. There it remained till it was disin- 
terred by the filial piety of Paul. The second funeral of Peter 
was witnessed by Admiral Shishkov and has been duly de- 
scribed in his interesting Memoirs. The French minister 
seems to have been loath to believe that Catherine was re- 
sponsible for the murder of her husband. But according to 
the reports of others her culpability did not admit of any 
doubt. She received the news, however, with much apparent 



200 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i762 

grief, though probably the only person who lamented the loss 
of the unfortunate Peter with real sorrow was Frederick of 
Prussia who had benefited so much by his succession to 
the throne, and who had always found in him a sedulous 
imitator. 

Rulhiere's account of the Revolution was not published 
during his lifetime, but he was in the habit of reading the 
manuscript to his friends. Catherine consequently became 
aware of its existence, and did all she could to suppress it. 
Diderot seconded her efforts to the utmost of his power, 
having himself previously urged Rulhiere to destroy it. 
Catherine even talked about purchasing the manuscript. 
She wrote in the name of Alexander Golitsin, her vice- 
chancellor, to Khotinski, who was the charge d'affaires at 
Paris, with instructions to open negotiations with Diderot or 
Rulhiere himself. " Vous l'engagerez a lui faire la proposi- 
tion de vous ceder son manuscrit au moyen d'une somme que 
vous lui payerez en dedommagement des profits qu'il en espere 
et cette somme je ne vous la fixe point ; deux trois quatre cents 
ducats, plus ou moins, selon que vous sentirez les pretentions 
de l'auteur." A comic account is given by M. Tourneux in 
his " Diderot et Catherine II.," in which the anxiety of 
Catherine to get possession of the manuscript is very 
apparent. When the Princess Dashkov came to Paris on 
her European tour she refused to see Rulhiere, so as to 
discredit his account as much as possible. When the latter 
was summoned by the Duke d'Aiguillon to give up his book 
he put himself under the protection of the Dauphin (Louis 
XVI.). In 1773 he added to the celebrated anecdotes a kind 
of postscript in which he collected and refuted the various 
criticisms which had been made upon his work. On the 
30th of January 1790 he died suddenly and almost forgotten; 
and when Catherine was informed of his death by Grimm 
she replied that she had hardly noticed it. 

Whatever the circumstances may have been which led to 
their resolution, the heirs of Rulhiere waited till the death of 
the Empress before publishing this important work. It did 



1762] PETER III.— CATHERINE 201 

not make its appearance until 1797, and was almost imme- 
diately translated into English. The book is in the main 
accurate enough. A few minor errors, however, were detected 
by Fortia de Piles in his work, " Examen de trois ouvrages 
sur la Russie, 1802." 



[1762 



CHAPTER IX 

THE REIGN OF CATHERINE— Continued 

/^ATHERINE was not allowed to spend the early days of 
^ her reign in tranquillity. There were mutinous signs 
among the regiments, as well as factions which were still 
endeavouring to compass the accession to the throne of 
either the young Grand Duke Paul or the unfortunate Ivan 
confined in Schliisselburg. The Empress, however, managed 
things well, and was able to tide over these dangers. As a 
result she came to regard Paul with greater hatred than ever, 
and made more stringent the confinement of Ivan. Keith, 
the English minister, to whom we owe so many interesting 
details, although in the main he was a dull man, now a 
permission to be relieved of his duties, and his place was 
taken by Hobart. Earl of Buckinghamshire, an ancestor of 
the redoubtable Hobart Pasha of our own times. 

When Hobart arrived at Moscow he found the Empress 
depressed. There had been some signs of disaffection among 
the troops, 'and these favoured soldiers ruled Russia much as 
the praetorians ruled the Rome of the Emperors. He seems 
soon to have fallen under the fascination of this remarkable 
woman. Nor was the French minister. M. de Breteuil, less 
influenced. His despatches are of quite a glowing character, 
and it is obvious that Catherine was anxious to create a 
favourable opinion of herself in Western Europe. She gave 
some offence to her subjects by the favour which she showed 
to Gregory Oriov and the great emoluments which she 
him. This man. not content with the extravagant privileges 
which had been conferred on him. even aspired to the hand of 
Catherine, and to share the throne with her. The Empress 



1762] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 203 

seems to have had sufficient feminine weakness not to 
vigorously repulse his advances. According to M. de 
Breteuil Catherine received a petition from certain ecclesi- 
astics entreating her to choose a husband from among her 
own subjects. But Panin, Razumovski and some other 
leading courtiers exerted themselves to resist these plans, and 
tried to put before the Empress the perils she would incur 
if she lowered herself so far as to marry Orlov. The very 
rumour of such a thing caused a riot among the soldiers. 
Some had the name of Ivan on their lips, and others de- 
manded to be shown the Grand Duke Paul whose life they 
said was in peril. The rebellion was hushed up, and many 
of the common soldiers were punished on the plea that 
discipline must be maintained. The chief persons, however, 
concerned were not brought to any trial. The wrath of 
Catherine fell mostly upon her friend, the Princess Dashkov, 
to whom she had owed so much on the most important day 
of her life. The Princess retired to her estates in disgrace. 
The Empress, pretending to believe her guilty of complicity 
in the plot, offered her a full pardon if she would confess 
anything. The indignant letter which the Princess wrote in 
reply to the suggestions of the Empress has been preserved 
by M. Berenger, the French charge d'affaires. It was as 
follows : " Madam, I have heard nothing of the subject you 
mention, and if I had heard anything I should take care not 
to tell it. What do you want of me ? That I should die on 
the scaffold ? I am ready to mount one." Catherine, how- 
ever, did not pursue her animosity any further, and the 
Princess made no effort to appease her former mistress. 
Her house became a focus of intrigue against those in power. 
Owing to the influence of Count Panin, the Princess was 
allowed a little time afterwards to return to St Petersburg. 
Sir G. Macartney, who had succeeded Hobart as English 
minister, describes in a letter to his government the manner 
in which the Princess was received by the Empress. He 
goes on to say that the former was a woman of extraordinary 
character, and very dangerous in a country like Russia, 



204 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1764 

"for," he continues, "in spite of the general brutality of the 
Russians, women seem to exercise in this country as much 
authority as among the most civilised nations." 

Princess Dashkov, who quitted her native country in 1770 
for a tour, has left us an interesting account of her journey. 
She was for some time at Paris where she made the ac- 
quaintance of Diderot, who seems to have been very much 
captivated by her. From Paris she went to London and 
there met Horace Walpole, who has left us an account of 
the agreeable impression which she made. She also visited 
Scotland where she stayed for some time while her son took 
his degree at the University of Edinburgh. The wits of the 
modern Athens were surprised at the clever woman who had 
come among them from the land of the Scythians. But it 
was not only at Edinburgh that Russians were educated, 
many also were to be found at the University of Oxford ; 
some of whom went back and distinguished themselves in 
their own country. 

The year 1764 witnessed the curious attempt of Lieutenant 
Mirovich to rescue Ivan who was still kept imprisoned at 
Schlusselburg. Mirovich was a Cossack whose grandfather 
had been ruined by following the fortunes of Mazeppa. 
This conspiracy, like the Gowrie Plot in Scottish history, is 
very enigmatical. According to some writers there was no 
conspiracy at all. Catherine, they say, was anxious to have 
an excuse for putting to death Ivan, whose name might still be 
a rallying cry for her opponents. He was of direct Russian 
blood and the descendant of Russian tsars, while she was a 
German parvenue. It is said that she had issued orders to 
his Guards to slay him if ever an attempt to rescue him 
should be made. Mirovich secured the assistance of some 
soldiers, pretending to have an order from the Empress. 
The officers in charge of the prisoner at once attacked the 
unhappy young man who was unarmed, and had in fact just 
awoke from sleep. Undefended as he was he made a 
desperate attempt to save himself, but being overpowered 
and wounded in several places he was finally despatched by 



1764] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 205 

a stab in the back. The officers thereupon threw open the 
door, and pointing to the body of Ivan, exclaimed, " Here 
is your Emperor." Mirovich started, but retaining complete 
self-possession, delivered up his sword to the governor, 
Berednikov. On the following day the body of Ivan was 
shown to the people. An immense concourse flocked from 
all quarters, and according to the account of eye-witnesses 
sympathy with the unfortunate Ivan was expressed on every 
countenance. Coxe, the historian, who visited Russia during 
this period and has left us a very valuable narrative of his 
travels, assures us that he was told by people who saw the 
body of the dethroned Emperor that he was about six feet 
in height, of athletic build, and with reddish hair. 

It is said of Mirovich that when tried and condemned to 
death, he exhibited no emotion and kept the same sang froid 
even on the scaffold. He was executed on the 26th of 
September. He walked to the place of execution with an 
unconcerned air, crossed himself, and, without saying a 
single word, laid his head upon the block where it was 
severed from his body at one stroke. Coxe assures us 
that he was not gagged, and therefore his silence must 
have been self-imposed. The conduct of Mirovich on the 
scaffold has been cited as proving that he expected a 
reprieve ; but the more correct view seems to be that 
he was a desperate adventurer who thought he would put 
his fortune to the touch. Catherine mast at all events 
have been glad of the death of so serious a rival. Mirovich 
had been at first sentenced to be broken on the wheel, 
but his punishment was commuted by the Empress into 
decapitation. 

There still remained one candidate for the throne who had 
a better claim than the Empress, this was none other than 
her own son. Paul was born in 1754. According to all 
Russian ideas he was the legitimate heir, his mother had 
only seized the supreme power by force. She could have no 
legal claim, except such as the lawyers set up for Henry VII. 
of England — present possession and the will of God, as the 



206 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i764 

technical expression is. She was never entirely at her ease 
about this son, and, therefore, throughout her reign kept him 
in the background. 

We cannot wonder that such injudicious treatment had* a 
pernicious effect upon the character of Paul. Just as the 
slights which he had to endure are supposed to have fostered 
the malignity and_dissimulation of Tiberius, Paul showed the 
feelings with which he regarded his mother by annulling as 
far as it was in his power those enactments of her reign which 
were most characteristic of her. Some of the clergy ventured 
at this time to ask the Empress to fix the succession, as the 
country might be placed in a very awkward position if the 
Grand Duke Paul should die, and his health was said to 
be very delicate. It was also suggested that the Duke of 
Brunswick and his family should be allowed to quit Russia. 
Catherine seemed half inclined to concede this latter request, 
but the matter was allowed to drop, and the family remained 
for some years longer in their dreary abode amidst the Arctic 
snows. To the other request the Empress does not seem to 
have returned any answer. 

The year in which the fate of the former Emperor Ivan 
was sealed, witnessed the great measure planned by Catherine 
of secularising the estates of the Church. The Archbishop 
of Novgorod had been one of the chief actors in the revolu- 
tion which made her Empress. He had also assisted in 
curbing the power of the monks ; but when Catherine was 
firmly seated on the throne she ignored him, and the miser- 
able man was left exposed to the contempt of his fellow- 
priests. The boldness of this great ecclesiastical reform on 
the part of Catherine shows her extraordinary force of char- 
acter. It had only been by assuming an air of complete 
orthodoxy that she had been enabled to ascend the throne. 

We have already spoken of the great numbers of monas- 
teries in Russia and the serfs which they possessed. These 
lands and peasants were now handed over to the State and 
definite salaries were allotted to the priests, varying according 
to their position in the hierarchy. Peter the Great had 



764] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 207 

attempted a similar reform, as also had his feeble namesake, 
but the opposition which it met with had prevented its being 
carried out in both cases. In this way the subjection of the 
Church to the State, which had been begun by Peter the 
Great, was finally carried into effect. 

For a long time after this the despatches of the English 
and French ministers are filled with accounts of the struggles 
between Orlov and Panin. Of the capacity of the latter they 
speak favourably. He was the tutor of Paul, whose mother 
seems to have continued to legard him with dislike and 
suspicion. Another of his preceptors was Teplov, of whom 
we have already spoken. 

The foreign ambassadors at this time give us but a poor 
account of the progress of civilisation in Russia, but for all that 
it was steadily advancing. They continue, however, to give 
gloomy pictures of the relations existing between the Empress 
and her son Paul. The latter at this time- greatly resented a 
member of the family of Saltikov being placed as a spy over 
him. 

Paul was now married. His wife was a Princess of Hesse- 
Darmstadt, who was received into the Greek Church under 
the name of Natalia Alexievna. The marriage took place in 
1773. This unhappy woman was soon drawn into the vortex 
of universal intrigue. 

Among the chief events at this time which call for notice 
were the revolt of Pugachev and the consternation caused by 
it ; and the enormous influence of the fantastic, but certainly 
clever, Potemkin, whose extraordinary vagaries have filled so 
many pages of books on Russia. Gregorii Potemkin (pro- 
nounced Patiomkin) was born in 1739, of noble parents, living 
near Smolensk. They do not, however, seem to have been 
in very prosperous circumstances, nor had any of the family 
held high office with the exception of two, who had been 
ambassadors. He does not appear to have been in any w r ay 
a prominent figure till the day when Catherine arrived in 
St Petersburg to overthrow her husband. The Empress was 
without a plume to her hat, and Potemkin, like another 



208 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1768 

Raleigh, stepped forward and offered her his own. He seems 
to have made an impression upon the Empress and from that 
time forward we find him closely mixed up with most of the 
events of her reign. In 1768 he was made major-general. 

In the same year there was a great agitation among the 
Cossacks. Since the days of Mazeppa the hetmanship had 
been reduced to a nullity. Terrible massacres of Jews and 
Roman Catholics were committed in the government of 
Kiev, under the leadership of Gonta and Zhelezniak. The 
history of these tumults has become better known through the 
poem of Taras Shevchenko, a writer of great celebrity in Malo- 
Russia. There does not seem to be any evidence to show 
that they were fomented by the Russian government, as has 
been asserted. 

Potemkin, the new favourite, advanced rapidly in the graces 
of Catherine, and Gunning tells his government in 1774 that 
to the astonishment of the other members of the Privy 
Council, Potemkin had taken his place among them. It was 
like Sir Christopher Hatton being made Lord Chancellor by 
Queen Elizabeth. He gradually contrived to displace the 
most influential ministers of Catherine. He devoted himself 
to exposing their peculations and therefore may in one 
respect be said to have done the State some service; for 
there was undoubtedly much misconduct of the kind going 
on among them. Thus Gunning could tell his government 
that Chernishev had embezzled a hundred thousand roubles, 
his only excuse being that his affairs were in an embarrassed 
condition. To the superficial observer Potemkin appeared 
merely a man of pleasure. But in reality he possessed a good 
deal of talent, and was an accomplished intriguer. At this 
time he was endeavouring to make himself indispensable to 
Catherine who was greatly harassed by the success of the 
rebellion of Pugachev. 

This remarkable insurrection broke out in 1773. The 
leader, Emilian Pugachev, was a Cossack of the Don, who 
gave himself out to be the Emperor Peter III., having, 
according to his story, escaped from the clutches of the 



1773] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 209 

conspirators. It is said that one day an officer casually 
remarked to Pugachev, who was serving in the ranks, that he 
resembled very much the late Tsar. The remark took effect. 
People had become used to revolutions de fialais, and persons 
of high social rank had frequently disappeared among the 
snows of Siberia. The scantiness and ignorance of the 
population fed the delusion. There were moreover many 
classes of people eager to seize any opportunity of revolt. 
Peasants were anxious to break away from their masters. 
Raskolniks were irritated by persecutions, and many of the 
Mongolian races for religious and other reasons hated the 
Russians. The Cossacks had for a long time been in a state 
of fermentation. Peter had punished them severely, and the 
exploits of the setch were now a thing of the past. 

The revolt broke out. The landed proprietors were 
massacred wholesale by their serfs. Here and there occurred 
instances of their being concealed by faithful attendants but 
these were rare. We are told of the father of Radistchev, the 
reformer, that at the time of the mutiny he was obliged to 
quit his estate and hide himself, leaving his four children in 
the care of the serfs, who disguised them and thus saved their 
lives. 

The Cossacks of the Yaik, among whom the insurrection 
broke out, were a branch of the Don Cossacks, and had been 
subjects of Russia from the time of the Tsar Michael. Till 
the reign of Peter the Great they had lived in all the ordinary 
license of Cossack life — they elected their own hetman and 
elder (starshii), paid no taxes, and were liable to no military 
duties except a very light service. They were in the habit 
of committing depredations on the Caspian Sea, where they 
plundered Persian trading vessels ; now and then they 
received a severe reprimand from Moscow, but were never 
efficaciously punished. 

Peter had tried to restrain their lawless habits by the same 

system as the great Stephen Bathory adopted. He had them 

disciplined and governed by the Imperial military college; he 

caused them to be enrolled and their service fixed ; and he 

o 



210 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1773 

himself appointed their hetman. Thereupon the Cossacks 
had rebelled and retreated into the Kirghis steppes. They 
could not however forget the former days of liberty and 
license celebrated in so many of their dumi, and there were 
consequently frequent disturbances on the Yaik in the middle 
of the eighteenth century. They became more and more 
violent towards the close of the reign of the Empress Anne 
and at the beginning of that of Catherine II. ; and in 1771 it 
became necessary to send soldiers to subdue them. Nothing 
but force of arms could put them down. The office of hetman 
was abolished, and the power which had attached to the post 
was transferred to the commandant of Yaitsk. 

The Cossacks submitted to necessity, but murmured more 
than ever, awaiting the advent of a leader who should re- 
store to them their former liberty. Such a man appeared 
in the person of Pugachev, who was a runaway Cossack of 
the Don from the stanitsa of Gimovei. He had been for 
some time a preacher of disaffection to the Russian Govern- 
ment, reviling all the new regulations, and endeavouring to 
persuade the Cossacks to become subjects of the Turks. 
For this he had been arrested, taken to Kazan, and con- 
demned to imprisonment with hard labour. But he managed 
to escape, and soon appeared, again on the Yaik. Like 
Antaeus he seemed to gain new strength whenever he trod 
upon his native soil. Accordingly a plot was concocted. 
Some of the Cossacks conceived the idea of taking advantage 
of the supposed likeness of Pugachev to the late Emperor — 
certainly not very evident, if we compare their portraits. 

He was, however, a man of a daring and adventurous 
disposition j added to which he had some knowledge of 
military tactics, which he had gained while serving against 
the Turks and Poles. He accordingly took the name of the 
Emperor. He seems to have had in his camp some men of 
education, who no doubt had their own motives for joining 
him. Thus he was able to display a Holstein flag ; how he 
obtained it is not known, but it was important for him to 
have one, considering the character he assumed. So, too, 



1773] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 211 

some educated man must have written his proclamations, for 
he was himself entirely illiterate. 

At the outbreak of the insurrection his force numbered 
3000 men, which in a short time swelled to 30,000. He made 
himself master with remarkable rapidity of all the fortified 
places of the Ural ; had besieged Orenburg and stirred up 
the Bashkirs, Calmucks and Kirghiz Kazaks. The negligence 
of the local governors contributed greatly to his success ; 
especially was this the case with the governor of Orenburg, 
Reinsdorp, a zealous officer, but weak and without much 
foresight. He had had the means of crushing the revolt at 
the very beginning, but gave it time to spread, and was after- 
wards unable to recover his opportunity. 

General Carr, a Scotsman in the service of Russia, who 
had been sent from St Petersburg to act in conjunction with 
Reinsdorp did not prove equal to the task. He came to the 
Ural with full confidence that he would have no difficulty 
in settling the matter. But he seems to have taken no 
measures, and to have been paralysed by the increase in the 
strength of the rebels. He declared that he was ill, left the 
army, and went back to Moscow. Pugachev, by this delay, 
obtained time to strengthen his position still further. He 
also made good use of another important circumstance. The 
Cossacks of the Yaik were Staro-obriadtsi followers of the 
old rites before the introduction of the changes of Nikon. 
Of the same persuasion was the rebel himself. These men 
had, among other superstitions, the greatest horror of the loss 
of their beards. They heard, therefore, with delight that the 
new Emperor, as he styled himself, would allow them to wear 
their beards, and restore their ancient liberty. 

Catherine saw that decisive steps must be taken if the 
rebellion was to be crushed. General Bibikov, who had 
gained reputation by his victories in Poland, was commis- 
sioned by the Empress for the purpose. It is said she 
offered him the command at one of the court balls, addressing 
him in the words of a popular song. He arrived at Kazan, 
and proceeded to allay the general terror. He organised a 



212 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i7?4 

powerful force under competent commanders, and hastened 
to raise the siege of Yaitsk, Orenburg, and Ufa, which had 
been reduced to great extremities by the rebels. The wise 
measures of the general, who had both military knowledge 
and energy promised a speedy end to the disturbances. 
Colonel Michelson saved Ufa; General Mansurov relieved 
Yaitsk; Prince Golitsin beat Pugachev himself under the 
walls of Orenburg, and drove him into the steppe as far as the 
banks of the Tobol. 

The rebellion was thus on the point of coming to an end, 
when matters took an unexpected turn, owing to the death 
of Bibikov in the full vigour of his powers. His successor, 
Prince Stcherbatov, did not understand how to complete the 
discomfiture of the rebel army, and by his continued inactivity 
gave them time to gather fresh strength. Pursued by a far 
too small force under the command of Michelson, Pugachev 
hurried to the mining establishment in the Ural ; seized the 
treasury ; stirred up rebellion among the men employed in 
the mines, and proceeded to establish there a cannon-foundry. 
He now invited the Bashkirs, Tatars and Calmucks to join 
him ; who, as Mussulmans, were naturally disaffected to the 
Russian rule. From the upper part of the Ufa Pugachev 
moved with a vast body of men upon Kazan. The garrison 
consisted of but few defenders, and those in command seem 
to have lost their heads. They had retired with their men to 
the old citadel ; and thither the townspeople had followed 
them, despairing of safety. Pugachev easily gained possession 
of the town, plundered and burnt it, and prepared to make 
himself master of the citadel with the intention of eventually 
marching upon Moscow. 

Count Peter Panin was now asked to undertake the suppres- 
sion of the rebellion on the lines adopted by Bibikov, which 
had given promises of success. While, however, the new 
commander was taking measures for the safety of Moscow, 
and was collecting troops, Michelson succeeded in defeating 
the rebels. On hearing of the movement of Pugachev 
towards the Volga, he quickly followed and came upon him 



1775] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 213 

in sight of Kazan, which was fast becoming a heap of ruins. 
Here a battle took place, which, after lasting for some time, 
resulted in the victory of Michelson. The rebels were now 
scattered. Pugachev retreated to the right bank of the 
Volga, where he issued a manifesto, and partly by coaxing, 
partly by terror, roused the whole of the district. The 
entire region of the Volga was now in rebellion, and 
Pugachev was ready to march on Moscow, where his 
confederates had promised him success. Michelson, how- 
ever, who throughout displayed the greatest activity, diverted 
his journey at Arzamas, and, without giving him a moment's 
rest, drove him once more in the direction of the Volga. 
Pugachev now abandoned all thought of marching on 
Moscow, and began to look out for a refuge in Turkey or 
Persia. He made a rapid retreat, destroying all the villages 
and towns in his way, including Penza and Saratov. When he 
had nearly reached Astrakhan, whence he could have easily 
escaped to the sea, Michelson fell once more upon him 
below Tsaritsin, and, having completely defeated him, forced 
him across the Volga into the steppes. Here, behind Lake 
Elbon, the rebel was surrounded by the soldiers who gathered 
together from all quarters as Count Panin had skilfully 
arranged. Finally Suvorov came upon the scene and pursued 
him at the head of Michelson's regiment. The confederates 
of Pugachev now saw no other means of escaping from the 
trap in which they had fallen than by throwing themselves on 
the mercy of the Government. They therefore resolved to 
sacrifice their leader. He was delivered up at Simbirsk and 
taken in an iron cage to Moscow. There he was kept for 
about two months fastened by a chain to the wall and 
subjected to the gaze of the inquisitive public. He seems 
to have shown none of the courage that might have been 
expected from his career. On the 22nd of January 1775, 
he was executed, together with five of his confederates, 
Perfiliev, Shigaev, Padurov, Chika and Tornov. A rudely 
executed seal, which he used for his official documents, has 
been preserved. He could not write himself, and therefore 



214 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1775 

these papers had to be subscribed by one of his attendants. 
Sometimes he seems to have tried to imitate the letters of 
the Russian alphabet, but his attempts are obviously those of 
a wholly illiterate man. 

The number of persons killed by this monster was very 
great, and dreary lists will be found appended to the Russian 
works on the rebellion. It is not a little curious that even 
so late as the time when Pushkin was collecting materials 
for his history, about 1830, he found many peasants who 
still believed that Pugachev was the genuine Emperor : one 
old woman said to Pushkin — " You call him impostor, but we 
call him our Tsar, Peter III." If he had not estranged so 
many people by his reckless and meaningless cruelties, one 
cannot help thinking he might have succeeded. 

The result of this rebellion was that the few remains of the 
Cossack setch were uprooted, and the very name of the 
district in which the uprising occurred changed. From this 
time forth the peculiar mode of life of the Cossack was gone, 
just as the Highland clan system in Scotland was practically 
destroyed after the rebellion of 1745, and we may even 
pursue the parallel still further, since just as with us the name 
Highlander has been appropriated to certain regiments, so 
it has been with the name Cossack in Russia. 

Catherine had been much alarmed until the rebellion was 
crushed, for it had seemed to threaten her very crown. Now, 
however, Gunning was able to inform his government that he 
had never known the court more tranquil. Potemkin had 
become the dominant favourite, and it was he who was really 
ruling Russia. No man ever succeeded in so completely 
getting Catherine under his influence. The Orlovs attempted 
to stop this, but he was more than a match for them. The 
power of Panin he reduced to insignificance, or something 
very much like it, and contrived to recommend a son of the old 
General Ostermann to the Empress ; but of him, we are told, 
that he was far from inheriting the talents of his father. The 
English ambassador was pleased at the fall of Panin, as he 
saw no obstacle to an alliance, offensive and defensive, 



1776] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 215 

between England and Russia, and even believed that 
Potemkin would help him to carry out such a plan ; but he 
was obliged to confess to his government that his manoeuvres 
had been unsuccessful. 

Catherine was more or less at variance with her daughter- 
in-law, whom she had expected to be able to control, but 
soon found that she had no influence over her. Gunning, 
writing February 6th, 1775, tells his government of the public 
entry made by the Imperial family into Moscow ; but the 
apathy with which she was received in that city was sufficient 
to convince Catherine of her unpopularity there. Durand, 
the French envoy, writing about the same time, has the same 
tale to tell. Even though the Empress remitted an unpopular 
tax on salt, the citizens received the good news with apathy. 
She had, he says, waited at a window to watch how the 
announcement was received, and was not a little mortified by 
the silence. "How stupid they are!" she cried. On the 
other hand, the Grand Duke was the popular idol. This 
conduct was resented by the Empress, who sometimes took 
petty means of revenge. Thus M. Durand describes how on 
one occasion she gave a watch of trifling value to Paul, but 
made a present to another person of 50,000 roubles. Such a 
sum was greatly needed at the time by the Grand Duke, and 
he had even begged it of his mother. The envoys have 
naturally accounts to give us of continual squabbles between 
Potemkin and Paul. They speak, however, far from well of 
the latter. The Empress continued to squabble' with his 
wife ; but their altercations were put an end to by the death 
of the latter in 1776. The Grand Duke is said to have given 
way to indescribable despair. Oakes, the English envoy, 
tells us how Prince Henry of Prussia, the brother of 
Frederick the Great, who happened to be at St Petersburg 
at the time, never quitted the side of the bereaved husband. 
It was probably on this occasion that the Prussian prince 
ventilated the subject of the partition of Poland. He also 
suggested a second wife for the Grand Duke in the person of 
the Pripcess of Wurtemberg, the grand-niece of Frederick. 



216 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1777 

The grief of Paul, however, did not last long, and he married 
the Princess of Wurtemberg in September of the ensuing 
year (1777). She seems to have been a woman of gentle 
character. The English envoy (Oakes) is loud in her praise. 
According to her portrait, she was a handsome woman of 
regular features and tall stature. In the contemporary 
pictures which represent her with her husband, the latter 
appears to considerable disadvantage in comparison. He was 
short and ill-shaped, with a peculiarly ugly nose, and is said 
to have been unwilling to have his portrait stamped on the 
coinage. At all events, from that time, instead of the effigies 
of the Tsar, the coinage bears the double-headed eagle. The 
good looks of the Grand Duchess were transmitted to her son 
Nicholas, who was a very handsome man. Whatever his 
faults may have been, Paul certainly seems to have been a 
man fond of a simple, domestic life. 

Meantime Potemkin was more than ever in favour. On the 
day of his fete, the Empress made him a present of a hundred 
thousand roubles. Having the command of such ample 
revenue, we cannot wonder that his extravagance took even a 
fantastic turn ; and it is recorded of him that in his library he 
had several volumes of rouble notes bound up. It was, how- 
ever, impossible for him to remain long in the giddy position 
to which he had attained without being assailed. Marshal 
Rumiantsov, a general who has been already mentioned, and 
who had led the Russian armies to many victories, stirred up 
a rival against him in the person of a certain Zavadovski, a 
native of the Ukraine. The court continued to be a focus of 
intrigue, and it is, indeed, tedious to read of the rise, fall, 
or, to use the words of the poet, the evaporation of each 
successive favourite. 

We now come to what was, perhaps, the most important 
series of events of the reign of Catherine — the dismemberment 
of Poland. The attention of Russia was by this time con- 
centrated on that unhappy country, which had long exhibited 
signs of decay. Augustus III. had died in 1763. He was 
hardly a man to win the affections of his subjects. Dull, 



1763] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 217 

apathetic, and engrossed in bodily pleasures, he did not even 
take the trouble to learn the Polish language. Poland had 
been reduced to such a condition during his reign that it 
had come to be called the public inn {karczma zajezdna) ; 
its dominions might with safety be invaded by the forces of 
any power that felt inclined to do so ; as for instance by 
Russia in her war with France in 1748. 

The country was impoverished by the quantity of false 
money put into circulation by the Jews. Augustus III. has 
left no mark upon the history of Poland. At Dresden, how- 
ever, he is better remembered as having been the founder of 
the famous picture gallery. Stanislaus Poniatowski was next 
elected king — a man of elegant manners, but feeble, and 
without principle. He was altogether a specimen of the 
Frenchified Pole, such as Mickiewicz has ridiculed in Pan 
Tadeusz. 

In spite, however, of his somewhat superficial education, he 
was a man of some taste. His election was favoured by 
Frederick the Great, whose object was to weaken the country, 
and who saw that in such a king he would have a tool ready 
to his hand. He came of an aristocratic family, his uncles 
being the Princes Czartoryski, whose names are so indelibly 
engraved in Polish annals. Coxe and other travellers who 
visited the country, have given us very pleasant recollections 
of Poniatowski ; but his memory is viewed with contempt by 
his countrymen, who will for ever associate his name with their 
greatest national disaster. It will be remembered that Ponia- 
towski had formerly been Minister at St Petersburg from the 
court of Warsaw. He was also one of Catherine's favourites. 
Attempts were made to remedy the anomalous nature of the 
Polish Constitution, and the mischievous use of the liberum 
veto was abolished. But the division of Poland, which had 
been planned at an earlier time by Charles XL of Sweden, 
and had been prophesied so eloquently by John Casimir, was 
now to be carried out. 

The first proposals for this partition certainly came from 
Frederick the Great, who was anxious to acquire the littoral 



218 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i772 

of the Baltic and Danzig. He was the moving power through- 
out, and only called in Russia and Austria as accessories. 
The subject was broached at St Petersburg by Prince Henry 
as early as 1770 ; but more than a year elapsed before Russia 
and Prussia could come to an understanding on the subject. 

Frederick proposed the plan to the court of Vienna, which 
finally assented ; and the treaty of partition was signed at 
St Petersburg in 1772. Russia received as her portion of 
the spoils, White Russia, the palatinates of Mstislavl and 
Witebsk, with the territory beyond the Dnieper. Kiev had 
belonged to her since 1667 by the Treaty of Andruszowo. 
Prince Repnin had been sent as Russian Ambassador to 
Poland, and virtually ruled the country. He treated the king 
with contempt, and did what he could to lower him in the 
estimation of his subjects. Thus we find him keeping the 
king and his suite waiting at the theatre for the performance 
to begin, until he made his appearance. He even dictated 
the reports which Stanislaus was to send to the Empress about 
the condition of the country. Prominent citizens, moreover, 
were deported to Siberia ; and Bishop Soltyk was carried off 
and interned in Russia. In 1768 had been formed the Con- 
federacy of Bar, a league of patriots whose object was to 
drive the invaders from the country. The name was given 
them from the little town of Bar, which had been founded 
in the time of Sigismund I., and was called after Bari, in 
Italy, in honour of his Milanese wife, Bona Sforza. A foolish 
attempt was made to seize the person of the king, who was 
hurried by the conspirators through the public streets and after- 
wards set at liberty. It is difficult to believe how the seizure 
of such a weak man as Stanislaus could have had any marked 
effect upon the political situation. The patriotic attempts, how- 
ever, of the confederates of Bar were checked by the counter- 
movement of the traitors of Targowica. The old foolish 
customs were restored, and the country was as a result doomed. 

Some of the European courts, seeing the unbounded 
popularity of Potemkin, now began to load him with 
honours. That model of the domestic virtues, Maria 



1777] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 219 

Theresa, was not behindhand : she made] the favourite a 
prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and of course the astute 
Frederick followed her example. Oakes writes to his govern- 
ment on the 1 6th of April 1776 : " Prince Henry of Prussia has 
just arrived here, and yesterday Prince Potemkin has had the 
honour of receiving from the hands of His Royal Highness the 
order of the black eagle." Meanwhile Zavadovski was in the full 
fruition of his honours : he received a gift of three thousand 
peasants. But Potemkin was still held in the Imperial fetters, 
and enjoyed a gilded slavery. Oakes tells his government 
that the Empress had just bought for him a house which cost 
a hundred thousand roubles. She had also given him a like 
sum wherewith to furnish it, and had increased his pension 
to seventy-five thousand roubles. Well might unhappy 
Russia groan under the terrible burden of these minions. 
About the same time Zavadovski was made major-general, 
and received twenty thousand silver roubles and a thousand 
peasants. Soon afterwards we find Potemkin sulking and 
retiring from the court, and some of his rivals even thought 
that he might end his days in a monastery, which he often 
threatened to do ; for ambition, balked or sated, is apt to 
produce the devotee. But the pretended pietist was soon to 
come into power again. He seems to have exercised ex- 
traordinary influence over Catherine. Zavadovski now 
retired to the Ukraine, having received lands in White 
Russia with four thousand peasants. 

But the same year (1777) was to witness the visit of the 
fantastic and theatrical Gustavus III. We are told that the 
king was charmed with his reception. In 1780 Catherine 
received the visit of the Emperor Joseph II. She went to 
Mohilev to meet him, and brought him with her to St 
Petersburg, where he stayed a considerable time. Six weeks 
after he had gone there was another visitor at St Petersburg. 
This was the Prince Frederick of Prussia, the nephew of 
Frederick the Great. The Empress, however, received him 
coldly. Potemkin was at this time again in favour, not only 
with the Empress, but also the Grand Duke. Oakes, how- 



220 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1777 

ever, had soon afterwards news to communicate about a fresh 
favourite. This was a certain Zorich. There was the same 
lavish squandering of money upon him as upon the others. 
Oakes writes to say that the new favourite had received a 
present of an estate in Livonia, worth a hundred thousand 
roubles, and another estate was to be purchased for him 
from Prince Adam Czartoryski. It was not long, however, 
before Zorich was hurled from his place. 

Oakes was succeeded by Harris, afterwards Lord Malmes- 
bury, who has left us a very vigorous picture of the country. 
Harris arrived with a mission to bring about an alliance 
offensive and defensive with Russia, but Catherine did not 
favour the idea, and the plan came to nothing. Harris writes 
in a very depreciatory manner of the country. He had come 
to St Petersburg after a long residence at Berlin, and speaks 
of finding much luxury and but little morality among the 
upper classes and among the lower extreme servility. He 
considers the Russians "varnished Asiatics." While bearing 
ample testimony to the great talents of Catherine, Harris was 
by no means insensible to her foibles, and M. de Corberon, 
the French ambassador, does not speak in a more flattering 
way. Later on Harris declared that Potemkin was absolute 
master of the Empress. Of the Grand Duke and his wife he 
wrote that they lived in perfect harmony, and that the latter 
was universally popular. He also tells us of the German 
inclinations of Paul, and speaks almost prophetically of a fear 
that he may make himself ridiculous by such propensities as 
Peter III. had done. Harris has nearly always something to 
tell of the luxury of the Russian court, but he is especially 
eloquent when describing the great festival given by the 
Empress on the birth of Alexander, son of Paul, afterwards 
Emperor. On this occasion Catherine seems to have displayed 
the most fantastic extravagance. There are also many tales 
of the luxury and idleness which pervaded the upper classes 
throughout the country. Potemkin now persuaded the 
Tsaritsa to create him Duke of Courland. Rumour, too, 
was busy with the names of other favourites. 



1769] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE ill 

We must now turn to the wars which Russia under 
Catherine was destined to wage against the Turks. Turkey 
had long felt that sooner or later, owing to the great increase 
of Russia, she must measure swords with that power, and 
accordingly declared war in 1767. The Turks, however, had 
made their preparations in such a dilatory fashion that the 
Russians were quite ready for them when the crisis arrived. 
More than 300,000 Turks under the command of the Grand 
Vizier prepared to enter Poland in 1769, with the view of 
driving the Russians out of that country and removing 
Stanislaus Augustus from the throne. This was in accord- 
ance with the Sultan's invariable policy of minimising the 
Russian influence in Poland. The Empress replied by send- 
ing into the field two armies : one under the command of 
Prince Alexander Golitsin, whose object was to prevent the 
Grand Vizier from entering Poland ; the second, under the 
command of Count Peter Rumiantsov, was to defend the 
southern parts of the Empire from the inroads of the Tatars 
of the Crimea. Besides these detachments were sent to the 
Kuban with a view of creating a diversion on the part of the 
Turkish forces, and to the Caucasus in order to co-operate 
with the Georgians who were anxious of liberating themselves 
from the yoke of the Porte. 

The first year of the war (1769) was not distinguished by any 
decisive engagements. The Vizier crossed the Danube and 
directed his march into Podolia. Golitsin blocked his route 
at Khotin and so prevented him from crossing the Dniester. 
He succeeded, moreover, in compelling the Turkish army to 
recross the Danube. This they did in some confusion, and 
Khotin, a place very celebrated in Slavonic history, surrendered 
to the Russians. Catherine, however, not contented with 
the way in which Prince Golitsin was conducting the war, 
recalled him and entrusted the chief command to Count 
Rumiantsov. It was now resolved to get possession of the 
Turkish fortresses on the left bank of the Danube beginning 
with Bender ; and in the meantime the Russian fleet was sent 
into the Mediterranean to attack Turkey from the side on 



222 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1770 

which she felt herself quite secure. The Sultan, on his part. 
was discontented with the Grand Vizier and the Khan of the 
Crimea, and the former was in consequence superseded by 
Halil Pasha, and Ghirei was made Khan of the Crimea. 
Potemkin who was rising in importance as a military man, 
served under Golitsin and Rumiantsov, but it was not until 
after the conclusion of peace that his brilliant career began. 

In the spring of the year 1770, Turkey concentrated her 
forces consisting of more than 230,000 men on the left bank 
of the Danube, between the Pruth and the Dniester. The 
Russian forces amounted to something less. Rumiantsov 
hurried to the scene of action. Having ascertained that 
the Khan of the Crimea had already appeared in the 
neighbourhood of Bender, the siege of which had been 
entrusted to Count P. Panin. and that the Turks were crossing 
the Danube in order to unite with the Tatars, he led his 
soldiers along the left bank of the Pruth so as to meet the 
Khan with the intention of defeating him before the Grand 
Vizier could come to his assistance. To insure rapidity in 
the expedition, the baggage was left behind, and the chaxux 
de /rise were abandoned, which up to that time were con- 
sidered indispensable in a war with the Turks. 

" Powder and the sword will be your defence,'' said Rumiant- 
sov to the Russian soldiers. On the 19th of July, he reached 
the bank of the Larga, and there found the army of the Khan 
of the Crimea in a well fortified position. This he proceeded 
to attack and succeeded in capturing together with all the 
Khan's artillery. He scattered the Tatars and then moved 
against the Vizier himself, who with the main army was 
advancing in the track of the Khan and had already reached 
Trajan's road. Here on the banks of the river Kagul 
Rumiantsov met him. The Vizier halted to fortify his camp 
and to give time for the Crimean Khan to collect his scattered 
hordes. They were intended to fall upon the Russian rear 
while he himself attacked in front. The position of Rumiant- 
sov was a dangerous one. His army consisted of no more 
than 17,000 men weakened by disease and by the loss of 



1770] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 223 

some regiments who were protecting the convoy of provisions. 
These men were exhausted by their rapid marches, by a 
battle which they had only recently fought, and by the 
deficiency of food. 

In sight were 150,000 Turks, and from behind they were 
threatened by 80,000 Tatars. But Rumiantsov managed to 
keep his presence of mind, and having given his soldiers a 
short time to rest, issued orders for the battle. His army 
was divided into five squares. General Bauer was ordered to 
attack the left wing of the enemy, and Prince Repnin and 
Count Bruce (a descendant of an old Scottish family) to 
surround the right, while Plemiannikov and Olets delivered 
the centre attack, the commander-in-chief being himself in 
front. On the night of the 2nd of August the army in squares 
quietly marched on the enemy, and when the morning broke 
went straight against the camp, which was protected with 
deep trenches. The Turks seemed at first panic-stricken at 
the sudden appearance of the Russians, but soon swarmed 
out of their entrenchments and threw the division of Plemian- 
nikov into confusion. This caused some hesitation on the 
part of the Russian right wing, and as a result some regiments 
were mown down by the Janissaries ; others began to retreat. 
Thereupon Rumiantsov rushed into the thickest part of the 
fray, and crying out " Stop, boys ! " rallied the fugitives. Led 
by him in person the Russians now took to their bayonets. 
The enemy began to waver, and his confusion was increased 
by the excellent fire of the artillery. At length, after many 
hours of stubborn fighting, the Russian soldiers rushed into 
the camp on all sides. The Vizier fled to Bulgaria, followed 
by the whole of the Turkish army. The passage of the 
Danube was a matter of some difficulty, and thousands of the 
Turks were drowned in its waters. The Khan of the Crimea, 
who had fallen upon the Russian rear, also took to flight and 
concealed himself at Ochakov. The whole Turkish baggage 
and artillery, and a vast quantity of treasure remained in 
the hands of the conquerors. Rumiantsov was loaded with 
honours by the Empress for his victory. 



224 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [mo 

The Russians were equally successful at sea. A short 
time before the decisive defeat of the Turkish army on the 
Kagul the Ottoman fleet was defeated in a naval engagement 
off Chesme, on the coast of Asia Minor. In the autumn of 
1769 two Russian squadrons sailed from the Baltic into the 
Mediterranean. The first of these squadrons was commanded 
by Admiral Spiridov and the second by Vice-Admiral Elphin- 
stone ; an officer of British birth. In spite of severe weather, 
violent storms, and inexperience on the part of his sailors, 
Spiridov passed the Sound, and getting supplies in England, 




JTu. r-h i-sri, o- 

~ErT. 9 Z.i£. 



soon appeared in the Mediterranean to the great surprise of 
the Turks, who had never expected to see Russian ships in 
the waters of the Archipelago. Elphinstone appeared soon 
afterwards. The two squadrons united on the coasts of the 
Morea, and at the wish of the Empress the chief command 
was taken by Count Alexis Orlov, who, although not deficient 
in personal courage, does not seem to have possessed any 
special qualifications as an admiral. He came from Italy 
with his brother, Feodor. The object was to divert the 
Turkish troops by a blockade of the Morea, since an insur- 
rection on the part of the Greeks against their Ottoman 
oppressors had long been in contemplation. The Russians 



1770] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 225 

easily took possession of Navarino and Modon. The Mainotes 
were the first to arm themselves, and their example was 
quickly followed by others. 

To subdue the Greeks and drive away the Russians, the 
Sultan sent forces to the Morea and got ready his fleet. 
The Capitan-Pasha appeared on the coasts of the Morea, and 
at Napoli di Romani was met by the squadron of Elphinstone. 
The Russians bravely attacked him in spite of his superior 
forces, but the Turkish commander, declining a decisive 
engagement, sailed to the coasts of Asia Minor with a view of 
there reinforcing his fleet with some vessels which had come 
from Constantinople. As soon as Count Orlov ascertained 
that the Turks had made their appearance in the waters of 
the Archipelago he hoisted his flag, and set off in pursuit of 
the Capitan-Pasha. He did not have to wait long. 

The Turkish fleet, which was almost twice as large as that 
of the Russian admiral, took up a strong position in the bay 
of Smyrna and was drawn up in the form of a crescent under 
the shelter of the coast batteries. Here Orlov attacked. In 
front was Spiridov, in the centre the Count himself, and in 
the rear Elphinstone. The Capitan-Pasha had, shortly before 
the battle commenced, handed over the command of the fleet 
to his brave comrade Hassan-bey : he himself went on shore. 
The battle was sharp, and keenly contested on both sides; the 
ships, stationed at the distance of a pistol-shot from each 
other, were in many cases blown up, and the crews were 
burnt or drowned. The hero of this sanguinary battle was 
Admiral Spiridov. After a stubborn fight with three Turkish 
vessels, he grappled with Hassan himself, and both their 
vessels were blown up ; the respective admirals, however, 
having the good fortune to escape in time. The panic- 
stricken Turkish sailors hastened to shelter under the batteries 
in the bay of Chesme. 

Orlov lost no time in completing the discomfiture of the 

enemy ; he blocked the entrance to the bay, and ordered 

Captain Greig, a Scotchman in the Russian service, to fall 

upon the enemy with a separate detachment of the fleet. 

p 



226 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1770 

Greig with great gallantry hurried into the bay and succeeded 
in silencing the Turkish batteries and burning some of the 
vessels. Two fire-ships, under the command respectively of 
the Russian Ilyin and the Englishman Dugdale, were navigated 
into the midst of the Turkish fleet and there left to work 
havoc. Similar tactics were at a later date employed 
successfully during the Greek war of Independence by 
Constantine Canaris. In the course of six hours the whole 
of the Ottoman fleet was destroyed. These achievements, 
however, were, as we shall see, but anticipations of Navarino 
and Sinope. Almost 100 Turkish vessels were destroyed 
on this occasion ; one vessel which escaped destruction fell 
into the hands of the Russians. It is interesting to observe 
how many Englishmen participated in this engagement. At 
a later period we shall find Billings in the service of Russia 
circumnavigating the globe. 

The news of the annihilation of their fleet threw the Turkish 
Government into consternation. Mustapha the Sultan 
trembled for his capital, fearing that the Russians would now 
force the passage of the Dardanelles. The fact being that 
their fortifications were in a deplorable condition. Orlov, 
however, did not know how to make use of his opportunity. 
The French agent Baron de Tott, who was in the Turkish 
service, repaired the forts of the Dardanelles and furnished 
them with artillery. He also fortified Constantinople, so 
that when the Russian admiral, after taking Mitylene and 
Lemnos — two very useless performances — resolved to go into 
the bay, he met with a warm reception from the Turks and 
lost many of his ships. 

Taking advantage, however, of the discomfiture of the 
Turks, the Greeks and Slavs who were under her dominion 
rose, and the Pasha of Egypt also endeavoured to get rid of 
the Turkish suzerainty. Almost all the Turkish ports on the 
left bank of the Danube submitted to the Russian arms. 
Prince Repnin obtained possession of Ismail, Kilia and 
Akerman ; Count Panin of Bender ; and immediately after- 
wards Braila, Bucharest and Giurgevo surrendered. The 



1774] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 227 

Russians, moreover, induced the Crimean Tatars to declare 
themselves independent. 

After renewed successes of Rumiantsov on the Danube, the 
treaty of Kutchuk Kainardji, so-called from a village near 
Silistria, was signed on July 22, 1774. Its terms were as 
follows: — (1) Turkey agreed to recognise the independence 
of the Tatar Khans. This quasi-independence was only to 
serve as a preliminary to the annexation of the country by 
Russia. (2) Azov, Kertch, Yenikale, and Kinburn were to be 
ceded to Russia. Azov, so often contested in the old days, 
seized temporarily by the Cossacks in the time of the Emperor 
Alexis, then conquered and afterwards lost by Peter, was now 
to be finally annexed. At the present time, in spite of its 
geographical position, it has lost its strategic importance and 
has been reduced to insignificance by its flourishing neigh- 
bour Rostov on the Don. (3) Russian merchant ships were 
to have a free right of navigation from the Black Sea into the 
Mediterranean. (4) Russian subjects in the Turkish territories 
were to have all the privileges which the French and other 
more-favoured nations enjoyed. (5) The Greeks, Slavs, 
Moldavians, and Wallachians in the Turkish territories were 
not to be molested. This, however, was but a vague clause, 
and virtually abandoned them to the vengeance of the Turks. 
The Russian attempt to free the rayahs, though noble in 
itself, had not been successful. (6) The Turks were to pay the 
Russians 4,500,000 roubles as an indemnity for the expenses 
which they had incurred. (7) By the treaty of Kutchuk- 
Kainardji the right of interference on behalf of the Orthodox 
subjects of the Porte was conceded to Russia. 

In 1 77 1 the plague broke out at Moscow and committed 
fearful ravages. The sanitary measures proposed by the 
government were resisted by the ignorant people, and while 
endeavouring to enforce them, Ambrose the Archbishop of 
Moscow was slain. 

We now come to speak of the legislative and constitutional 
reforms effected by Catherine, for this able woman was to 
leave her name stamped upon Russian history in many 



228 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1766 

directions, (i) Catherine had always been a great reader, 
and had familiarised herself with, among other works, the 
writings of Montesquieu, Blackstone, and Beccaria. In 1766 
appeared the Manifestu of Instruction (nakaz) given to the 
Commission of Jurists to whom she entrusted the duty of 
drawing up the new code. This commission was opened by 
Catherine in person on 30th July 1767, and the sittings com- 
menced on 3rd August at Moscow. The previous Russian 
codes were the Russkaya Pravda of Yaroslav in the twelfth 
century ; the Sudebniks (Law-books) of Ivans III. and IV.; and 
the Ulozhente or ordinance of Alexis in 1649, memorable 
among other things for being the first code by which the 
peasant was bound to the soil. (2) The secularisation of the 
estates of the clergy has been already mentioned. (3) The 
position of the nobles in their relation to the sovereign was 
definitely fixed by Catherine, who had a high opinion of the 
importance to a country of its nobility, they being as it were 
the bulwark of the throne. She moreover revived the popular 
decree of Peter III. which provided that the nobility should 
not be constrained to enter the government service. In 1775 
she gave a charter (Zhalovannaya Gramota) to the nobility 
which in regard to the strength which it added to their 
power over the serfs, might almost be said to resemble the 
statute of Nieszawa in the time of Casimir IV. of Poland. 

But above all these concessions to the nobility, and indeed 
in the very forefront of the code was the assertion of the 
supreme autocratic authority of the Sovereign. This principle 
was affirmed in the most emphatic manner j at the same time 
principles of the most magnanimous and enlightened kind 
were enunciated. "The nation is not made for the sovereign, 
but the sovereign for the nation. Equality consists in the 
citizens being obliged to obey the law only. Liberty is the 
right of doing everything which is not forbidden by the law." 

(4) Catherine did a great deal to improve the condition of 

the burgher or middle classes, who before her time had been 

treated almost as on the same level as serfs. Many new 

towns weie built, and the population of the country increased 

• 



1783] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 229 

in a remarkable degree. Everywhere factories were erected 
for new industries. (5) With regard to the serfs their position 
cannot be said to have been improved. • The very indepen- 
dence of action allowed to the nobility in some points made 
it more easy for them to maltreat their peasants without 
interference by the crown. Catherine, however, sometimes 
was able to interpose with effect, as in the case of the 
" Saltichika," so-called from a lady of the aristocratic and 
wealthy family of the Saltikovs. This cruel woman had 
practically tortured to death some of her female serfs, and 
was justly sentenced to imprisonment for life. It is true that 
Catherine has been charged with having drifted far away from 
her liberal ideas towards the close of her reign. What may 
have been the reason for this change we shall consider shortly. 
In the meantime the next important event of her reign which 
calls for mention is the annexation of the Crimea, which 
already had been for some years a quasi-independent state 
under the protection of Russia. In this connection too we 
have to deal with the second Turkish war (1787-1791) and 
the doings of Potemkin and Suvorov. The former had been 
at great pains to colonise the territories which the Russians 
had recently acquired from the Turks. In 1782 he had 
removed about one hundred families who had been induced 
to emigrate from divers parts of Germany to the govern- 
ment of Azov. Since Russia had held the protectorate 
of the Crimea there had been a succession of Khans 
and the country was now in a very unsettled state. In 
1783, however, Potemkin took possession, whereupon the 
Khan resigned and was to receive a pension of 200,000 
roubles annually. He retired, however, to Moldavia, then 
under Ottoman rule, whence he was carried off to Rhodes 
and there strangled by the Turks. But before Potemkin had 
time to consolidate his conquests, an insurrection broke out 
among the Tatars, who were unwilling to become the subjects 
of Russia, and were far more in sympathy with their Turkish 
co-religionists. The outbreak was suppressed with great 
severity, and Potemkin busied himself more than ever with 



230 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1787 

his favourite plan of the humiliation of Turkey. The Empress 
appointed him Governor-General of the Crimea as well as 
president of the military college, and he displayed con- 
siderable ability in the changes which he introduced into 
the army. He reorganised the troops and made some very 
successful modifications in their dress. As a reward for the 
annexation of the Crimea, Catherine made him Field-Marshal 
and Prince of the Tauris. 

Owing to the provocations which they were continually 
receiving from him, the Turks proclaimed war against the 
Russians in 1787, and, according to the barbarous custom 
then prevailing, Bulgakov, the Russian ambassador, was sent 
as a prisoner to the castle of the Seven Towers, a prison 
too well known for the horrors it has witnessed. Great 
preparations were made for war on both sides. Potemkin, 
as Commander-in-Chief of the Russian forces, had under his 
orders the old marshal Rumiantsov and the already famous 
Suvorov. He formed his army into two main divisions : one, 
the army of the Ukraine, was placed under the command of 
Rumiantsov and was to begin hostilities in Moldavia: the 
other was commanded by Potemkin in person, and marched 
in the direction of Ochakov. The Turks were very anxious 
to recover Kinburn, which is situated exactly opposite to 
Ochakov, from which place it is separated by the mouth of 
the Dnieper. But their attack was repulsed with great loss 
by Suvorov, who was himself wounded in the conflict. 
Potemkin spent the winter of 1787 at Elisavetgrad. Here 
he conceived the curious idea of raising a regiment of Jews, 
which he humorously styled Israelovski. It was about this 
time that the wife of Paul entreated Catherine that her 
husband might be allowed to go to the war. Catherine, who 
always kept Paul in the background as much as possible, met 
this with a peremptory refusal. When the Grand Duke urged 
that he would be considered a coward, Catherine answered 
him curtly, " It will be said that the Grand Duke is an 
obedient son." Potemkin now made all preparations for the 
siege of Ochakov. A Turkish fleet was lying under its walls, 



1789] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 231 

but was dispersed by the Russian fleet under the command of 
Prince Nassau and Commodore Paul Jones. This extraor- 
dinary Scotchman had turned filibuster, changing his 
name from John Paul, and had successively entered the 
American and Russian services. Among his other achieve- 
ments he landed in Scotland and burnt the village in which 
he was born. 

Ochakov was eventually taken under circumstances in 
which no quarter was given or expected. Eight thousand, three 
hundred Ottomans are said to have been killed during the 
siege. Tooke says that 12,000 perished. At the close of the 
campaign Potemkin, having stationed his infantry in Ochakov 
and Moldavia, and sent his cavalry beyond the Dniester, 
hastened back to St Petersburg. Catherine had resolved to 
give her favourite a triumphant reception, and ordered the 
road by which he was to arrive to be illuminated for a distance 
of six miles. St Petersburg now became for some time en- 
grossed with the long series of festivities given in honour of 
Potemkin. In the spring of the next year the war with Turkey 
was resumed, and engagements took place on the banks of 
the Pruth. On July 21st, 1789, the Turks were repulsed by 
Suvorov at Fokshani in what is now Roumania ; and Repnin 
defeated Hassan Pasha, the Seraskier, who shut himself up in 
Ismail. Suvorov had greatly distinguished himself at Rymnik, 
and as a reward Catherine had made him a count, with the 
title of Rymnikski in 1789. He now advanced upon Ismail. 
Kamenski, another Russian general, laid Galatz in ashes, and 
Bender was also taken. Ismail was captured at the beginning 
of 1790; 35,000 Turks are said to have been slain in this 
battle, which is familiar to many from the vigorous description 
of Byron. Thus ended the campaign of 1790. We have, 
however, somewhat anticipated the chronological sequence of 
events, and must now return to the Crimea. 

This was a most important addition to Russian territory. 
A Scot named Mackenzie had pointed out the advantageous 
situation of the bay where Sevastopol was afterwards built. 
The Turkish name of the place was Akhtiar ; and the capital 



232 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1787 

during the occupation of the country by the Khans had been 
Bakchisarai, where the picturesque palace may still be seen. 
Its beauties have been sung by two of the foremost Slavonic 
poets, Pushkin and Mickiewicz. Catherine now determined 
to visit the new territory which had been acquired for her in a 
large measure by the efforts of her brilliant but fantastic 
favourite. She started on the 14th of January 1787, accom- 
panied by a gorgeous retinue. She had originally intended 
to take the Grand Dukes Alexander and Constantine with 
her, but they had to be left behind on account of illness. 
They seem to have been too young to bear the fatigues of 
the journey. On the confines of each Russian government 
the Empress was received by each governor-general in turn. 
Potemkin met her at the ancient and picturesque town of 
Kiev, and here she embarked on the stately Dnieper, 
escorted by a fleet of fifty galleys. All kinds of droll 
stories are told of the way in which Potemkin had made 
the newly acquired territories through which she passed, 
appear populous and flourishing. Some of these anecdotes 
are too good to be true, and indeed no country has been the 
subject of so many ill-founded stories as Russia. At Kudak, 
the ancient capital of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, she was met 
by Joseph II. of Austria ; and at Kherson she was confronted 
by the inscription : This is the way to Byzantium. The limit of 
her journey was reached at Stary Krim ; thence she slowly 
made her way back to Moscow, where Joseph took leave of 
her, and she then proceeded to St Petersburg. 

The career of Potemkin was now soon to close. After the 
campaign of 1790 he arranged the winter quarters of his 
troops, and repaired to Jassy. He then again made a 
triumphal expedition to St Petersburg. The road was again 
illuminated for his journey, and it was on the occasion of 
this last visit that he gave his magnificent entertainment to 
the Empress in his Taurian Palace. Reading the details of 
this gorgeous banquet, we seem to have before us a page of 
the "Thousand and One Nights." The company began to 
assemble at six o'clock ; and when the carriage of the Empress 



1791] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 233 

approached, meat, liquor, and clothes were abundantly dis- 
tributed among the mob standing at the doors. The Prince 
handed the Empress from her carriage. He wore a scarlet 
coat, over which hung a long cloak of gold lace, ornamented 
with precious stones. His dress was loaded with diamonds, 
and his hat was so heavy with them that it had to be carried 
by an aide-de-camp. On the entrance of Catherine a symphony 
was played by more than three hundred musicians. She took 
her seat upon a throne, surrounded with transparencies with 
appropriate mottoes. The Grand Dukes Alexander and 
Constantine at the head of the most beautiful young persons 
of the court now danced a ballet. This was followed by 
several other ballets, and every room of the palace was 
brilliantly lighted. Six hundred guests were present at the 
banquet. Potemkin stood behind the chair of the Empress, 
and did not sit down till she had repeatedly ordered him to 
do so. The tables were loaded with gold plate, and the most 
exquisite viands and wines. 

Contrary to her general rule, the Empress stayed till one 
o'clock in the morning : she seemed loath to disturb the 
universal pleasure. As she retired, numerous voices accom- 
panied by suitable instruments chanted a hymn in her praise. 
She was much affected, and turned to Potemkin to express 
her satisfaction. The latter fell on his knees and clasped her 
hand with tears in his eyes. 

Meanwhile, in his absence, Prince Repnin in the beginning 
of 1 79 1 opened the new campaign with some brilliant 
manoeuvres. The Turks were now anxious for peace, and 
the preliminaries were signed while Potemkin still delayed at 
St Petersburg. The great man whom all Russia had obeyed 
now began to show signs of premature decay. However he 
managed, though broken in health, to get to the south again ; 
and on his arrival at Jassy sent for Repnin and upbraided 
him for having dared to fight and make peace during his 
absence. Repnin, however, boldly answered that the only 
person to whom he had to give account was his sovereign. 
But Potemkin's originally vigorous constitution was now fast 



234 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1791 

breaking up. He could hardly endure any exertion. Life 
seemed to be ebbing without any apparent malady. He 
refused to pay attention to the admonitions of his physician, 
and ate salt meat and raw turnips as if by way of bravado, 
while he continued to ruin his constitution by the excessive 
use of wine and spirits. Finally he resolved to quit Jassy, as 
the place did not suit him, and attempted to get to Ochakov, 
the scene of his former triumphs. On the morning of October 
13th, 1 791, at three o'clock he set out; but he had only 
travelled a few versts when the motion of the carriage became 
intolerable to him. He got out and lay upon a carpet, which 
was spread at the foot of a tree. Suddenly he became 
speechless, and could only press the hand of his niece, 
Countess Branicka, in whose arms he expired. He had only 
reached the age of fifty-two years. 

Such was the end of this remarkable man, who, though 
he had undoubtedly considerable talent, is now remembered 
chiefly for his luxury and caprice. Catherine received the 
news of his death with great sorrow, and remained for some 
time in a state of melancholy. By Paul his memory was 
regarded with loathing. He was at first interred in the 
Cathedral of Kherson, but his final resting-place is not 
known, as Paul caused the remains to be moved and thrown 
into a common pit. 

Russia had now on hand wars both with Turkey and with 
Sweden. The throne of the latter country was* then oc- 
cupied by the fantastic Gustavus III., in whom some persons 
have seen a great statesman. Gustavus had very exaggerated 
ideas of his own dignity, and of the position to which he could 
raise Sweden. His assumption of almost autocratic power 
belongs, however, to the history of his own country. It was 
owing to the aggrandisement of Russia that his plans for the 
development of Sweden according to his own fashion were 
thwarted. He kept watching for his opportunity, and had 
even thought of attacking Russia during the revolt of Pugachev. 
At that time the greater part of Russia's fighting power was 
occupied in the South, and if Gustavus had had the prudence 



1790] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 235 

to wait a little longer, the Russian fleet would also have sailed 
southward. 

War having been declared, Greig, the Russian admiral, 
attacked the Swedish fleet under the command of the 
Duke of Sudermanland, off the island of Hogland. Each 
side lost a vessel, and the battle was on the whole inde- 
cisive, but the Swedish fleet was compelled to seek safety 
under the guns of Sveaborg where they were blockaded by 
Greig during the remainder of the campaign. On land the 
King was also unsuccessful ; his own nobles intrigued against 
him and even entered into secret correspondence with the 
Russians. When Gustavus returned to Stockholm, he 
effected a kind of coup d'etat, by which he made himself 
more than ever absolute master of the country. Meanwhile, 
however, his nobles had concluded a truce with Russia, 
as a result of which the Swedish fleet no longer remained 
locked up at Sveaborg. 

In 1790 the struggle was renewed and chiefly in the Gulf 
of Finland. The Swedish fleet under the command of the 
Duke of Sudermanland succeeded in getting out to sea 
before the two Russian squadrons (of Revel and Cronstadt) 
could effect a union, and taking advantage of their superiority 
in numbers, made a bold attack upon Revel, but without 
success. Having been defeated by Chichagov, the Russian 
admiral, the Swedish commander returned to Cronstadt with 
the intention of destroying the squadron lying there under 
the command of Admiral Kruze, thus clearing the road for 
Gustavus, with his fleet of galleys and troops to make a 
descent upon St Petersburg. The brave Kruze, who had 
co-operated with Orlov and Spiridov in the waters of the 
Archipelago, met the Swedes at the island of Seskar, and a 
severe engagement took place. During the whole day, from 
dawn till late at night, the cannonade resounded at St Peters- 
burg, which was thrown into a state of consternation. Kruze 
succeeded in routing the Swedes and effecting a union with 
Chichagov, who on the death of Greig had taken over the 
chief command of the Russian fleet. 



236 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1790 

The Duke of Sudermanland returned to the Gulf of Vyborg 
where the King himself had remained. Chichagov, however, 
blocked the entrance of the bay, and thus shut the Swedes in. 
This continued for a whole month, and when the want of 
provisions and water came to be severely felt, the Russians, 
knowing their desperate condition, offered terms. But Gustavus 
by a bold effort broke through the Russian line and cut his 
way in heroic fashion to Sveaborg, at the cost of losing a 
third of his fleet. He was able, moreover, to take vengeance 
upon Prince Nassau-Siegen, one of the Russian admirals, 
who, while pursuing the flying Swedes, came on the flotilla 
of galleys at Rochensalm : here his fleet was partly wrecked 
on the rocks and partly driven ashore, the whole squadron 
being thrown into the greatest confusion. The Swedes thus 
encouraged, fell upon the bewildered Russians, captured 
many of their vessels and took prisoners about six thousand 
men. The Prince himself escaped with difficulty. 

But Gustavus felt himself unable to prolong the struggle, 
and a treaty was accordingly concluded at Verela on the 
Kymene, in the spring of 1790. All this blood had been 
shed for no purpose, and Gustavus had wasted the treasures 
of his poor kingdom without accomplishing anything. 

Matters between Sweden and Russia were to remain on 
the same footing as that on which they had been in the 
spring of 1788. Foiled in his atttempts upon Russia, 
Gustavus next conceived the idea of trying to restore the 
Bourbon family to the throne of France, and proposed to send 
a fleet to attack the French coast. He even seems to have 
thought himself competent to take the supreme command 
of the allied Austrian and Prussian forces against the French 
revolutionists. But the resources of Sweden were now ex- 
hausted. A conspiracy against Gustavus was formed by 
some of the chief nobility, of which the directing spirit was a 
retired military officer named Ankerstrom. This man had 
received a personal injury from Gustavus, and in the end 
shot the king at a masked ball held in the Opera House at 
Stockholm, March 16th, 1792. 



1792] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 237 

Fortunately for Russia, hampered in so many ways, she 
was able to conclude a satisfactory peace with Turkey. 
Jassy was appointed as the place of meeting of the pleni- 
potentiaries. Owing to his illness, Potemkin could take no 
part in these negotiations, and he soon afterwards died. But 
Count Bezborodko was sent to act for him, and the treaty 
was concluded on 10th of January 1792. The Turks agreed 
to carry out all the stipulations of the treaty of Kutchuk- 
Kainardji; to recognise the authority of Russia over the 
Crimea, and to cede to her, together with Ochakov, the 
country between the Bug and the Dniester. 

It remains to describe the last agonies and the final partition 
of unhappy Poland. She had struggled on since the first 
partition in a state of great weakness. The European powers 
were partly apathetic and partly hostile. To the latter class 
belonged Russia, Prussia and Austria. Frederick the Great, 
one of the most uncompromising enemies of the Republic, 
died in 1786, and was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick 
William II., as unprincipled as his uncle, without possessing 
the latter's ability. In her difficulty Poland appealed to the 
German Emperor, the weak Francis II., who had succeeded 
in 1792, but received only a shuffling answer. In 1788 the 
celebrated four years' diet was opened, in which the Poles, 
by a series of judicious changes, endeavoured to eliminate 
the incongruities and anachronisms of their constitution. Had 
these salutary measures been carried out, Poland might perhaps 
have raised her head once more. But her enemies were 
determined that nothing of the sort should be done. Russia 
protested against this constitution, sending 100,000 men into 
the country, and on June 8th, 1792, the King of Prussia wrote 
to Stanislaus, letting it be seen very clearly that he intended 
to help Catherine. He also despatched a body of troops, 
under General Mollendorf, who, on January 24th, 1793, 
entered Thorn, and soon afterwards seized Danzig. The 
Diet appointed Stanislaus commander-in-chief of the forces, 
but he did not go into the camp. The Prussians declared that 
Danzig was a seat of Jacobinism. Thorn, the Palatinate of 



238 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1793 

Posen, and other territories were then occupied. At the end 
of the same year a final constitutional struggle took place at 
Grodno. At the second partition Prussia acquired the 
remainder of great Poland, and the Russian boundary was 
advanced to the centre of Lithuania and Volhynia. To carry 
this out the Russian troops occupied territory from Courland 
to Galicia. The Prussians now bombarded Warsaw with 
vigour, but without doing much damage to the city. The 
King of Poland was himself in command, though no one 
seems to have paid any attention to his authority. If we wish 
to get an idea of the state of affairs in the beleagured city, 
we must read the memoirs of Kilinski, the patriotic shoe- 
maker. A supplementary volume of these memoirs, the 
manuscript of which has lately been discovered, was published 
at Cracow in 1899. The popular party got the power entirely 
into their hands, and hanged some of the nobles who were 
supposed to have betrayed the national interests at the diet 
of Grodno. In this ignominious way perished Bishop 
Kossakowski, the hetman Ozarowski, and others. 

The heroic figure of Thaddeus Kosciuszko now comes upon 
the scene. He marched upon Warsaw and compelled the 
Prussians to raise the siege. It was at this time that Michael 
Poniatowski, the brother of the king, and primate of Poland, 
committed suicide. Thinking only of his own safety and that 
of his connexions, he entered into treasonable correspondence 
with the Prussian king. In the hope that he and his family 
would be rescued from the turbulence of the inhabitants, he 
sent a trusted messenger through the Polish lines, but the 
manner of the man attracted suspicion ; he was searched, 
and the letter of the primate was found upon him. The 
matter was at once brought to the knowledge of the king. 
According to a diarist, Stanislaus sent to his brother a packet 
containing poison. In the accompanying letter the king told 
him frankly that if he was guilty he had better take the poison, 
as there was no other way of escape. No sooner had the 
Primate finished reading the letter than he was given to 
understand that a mob was assembling in the courtyard of 



1794] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 239 

his palace, and a gallows was being prepared for him. The 
unfortunate man did not hesitate a moment, but swallowed 
the poison, which was so powerful that it took effect in half- 
an-hour. In spite of the manner of his death the Primate 
was accorded a pompous funeral at which all the clergy of the 
diocese were present. For some days after the event, we are 
told, the unhappy King was a prey to the deepest melancholy. 
The efforts of the noble Kosciuszko to stop the dismember- 
ment of his country for a second time were fruitless. He was 
defeated by Suvorov at the battle of Macieiowice, near War- 
saw (Oct. 1794). Here he received a severe wound, was 
carried from the battle half dead and sent into Russia as 
a prisoner. The Poles, disheartened at this loss, endeavoured 
to enter into negociations with the Russians, but the latter 
would hear of nothing short of unconditional surrender. Still 
there was as yet no thought of abandoning their country, and 
it is well known that to the day of his death Kosciuszko 
denied having uttered the words "Finis Polonise." They 
resolved to defend themselves to the last extremity, and gave 
the command of the army to General Zajaczek. 

Suvorov then advanced upon Warsaw and on the 2nd of 
November stormed the suburb Praga which is connected with 
the city by a bridge over the Vistula. Here a frightful mas- 
sacre occurred; thousands of Poles being slaughtered or 
drowned in the river. According to some accounts Suvorov 
did what he could to stop the bloodshed and tried to prevent 
the Russian soldiers from going upon the bridge at all, but 
when he saw the fury of his soldiers upon whom the very 
women fired and threw stones from the windows, he ordered 
the bridge to be broken, and thus, it is said, saved Warsaw 
from the fate of Praga. It is even said that out of gratitude for 
this the magistracy of Warsaw, in the name of the citizens, 
presented him with a golden snuff-box set in precious stones, 
bearing upon it the arms of the city (a siren with a sword), 
and underneath the significant inscription Warszawa zbawcy 
swemu (Warsaw to her deliverer), and the date Nov. 4, 1794, 
i.e. that of the storming of Praga. This story has of late been 



240 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1795 

repeated in the Russian newspapers apropos of the hundredth 
anniversary of the death of Suvorov. In the midst of all 
these horrors Stanislaus sent a letter to the triumphant 
general imploring him to grant an armistice ; but Suvorov 
would listen to nothing but surrender. He promised, how- 
ever, that the king should be confirmed in his authority, and 
that the lives and property of the inhabitants should be re- 
spected. The Polish envoy had found the general with all 
his usual Spartan simplicity, seated on a block of wood with 
another block of wood as his table. Finally the city capitu- 
lated on the 8th, and on the following day Suvorov paid a 
visit to King Stanislaus. The Polish army was now dis- 
banded and the third partition of the country was settled. 
Austria seized Cracow, together with all the country lying 
between the Pilica, the Vistula and Bug. Prussia took Warsaw 
with the territory as far as the Niemen ; the rest was handed 
over to Russia. Stanislaus resigned the crown at Grodno on 
April 25, 1795, and went to live at St Petersburg. He died 
three years later and was buried in the Roman Catholic 
Church on the Nevski Prospect. At first Paul had treated 
him kindly, but afterwards with much hauteur and neglect. 
Paul had previously made his acquaintance during a tour 
which he had made with his wife in 1780. This journey 
seems to have been planned by the Empress, who settled 
the day of departure, the duration of the tour and the 
countries which were to be visited. The Grand Duke had 
agreed to everything, only asking that his friend Prince 
Kurakin should accompany them and that the Court of 
Versailles should be included among those which they were 
to visit. The Grand Duchess had wished to see Berlin, 
but the Empress angrily refused her consent to this. 

Catherine had not been altogether satisfied with this ex- 
pedition. At Vienna they had displayed no cordiality towards 
the Emperor, and had taken no pains to conceal their sym- 
pathy with the King of Prussia. Moreover they had con- 
tracted immense debts during their absence ; and Catherine 
had showed her displeasure in a somewhat feminine manner. 



1795] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 241 

She issued a sumptuary law against the extravagance of 
women's dress ; thereby rebuking the weakness of her daughter- 
in-law, who had ordered two hundred boxes of feminine finery 
to be forwarded from France. We learn this piece of news 
from the English Ambassador. It was, as we have said, during 
this tour that Stanislaus had welcomed Paul at Wisniowiec. 

In the last year of her reign, Catherine had to undergo 
a considerable humiliation at the hands of the Swedes. A 
plan had been formed for marrying the Princess Alexandra, 
the grand-daughter of the Empress, to the young king, 
Gustavus IV. He accordingly visited St Petersburg, was 
duly betrothed, and all preparations for the marriage were 
made. The bridegroom, however, at the last moment 
refused to allow the Princess to have a private chapel in the 
Royal Palace for the service of the Orthodox Church, and 
required that she should always in public conform to the 
ritual of the country. The marriage was accordingly broken 
off. The Empress refused to hold any further intercourse 
with him, and Gustavus returned to his native country. In 
the same year he married a Princess of Baden. Alexandra 
was afterwards wedded to Joseph, the Palatine of Hungary, 
and died in 1801. Had she married Gustavus, her lot would 
have been an unenviable one, as he was afterwards driven from 
his throne by his subjects.. 

In 1795 Courland was definitively united to Russia. It had 
been a dependency ever since the marriage of Anne, the niece 
of Peter the Great, with the Duke. Later, Biren had been 
made Duke, and it had been again handed over to him when 
he returned from exile. He had been succeeded by his son, 
Peter, who was regarded by the Courlanders with contempt. 
They now voluntarily became Russian subjects, and have 
remained Russian ever since. 

On Nov. 17, 1796, Catherine expired. She was found on 
the floor of her room in a state of lethargy, having the evening 
before been unusually vivacious. The English Ambassador, 
Sir Charles Whitworth, thus communicated to his Government 
by courier the news of the decease of the Empress: "All 
Q 



242 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1796 

who saw the Empress last Tuesday had never found her more 
cheerful and lively than she was on that day, both morning 
and evening. On the same night she slept very well, and, 
according to her custom, rose on Wednesday between six and 
seven o'clock, drank some coffee, and then wrote a little, as 
she always devoted herself to literary work in the morning 
hours, which were too early for her ministers. . . . Only when 
the Empress had retired to her study, the persons in attend- 
ance upon her began to be troubled, noticing that she remained 
there so much longer than she generally did, and so, after half 
an hour had elapsed, they opened the door and found the 
Empress lying on the floor, with all the signs of a severe 
stroke of apoplexy. Assistance was immediately at hand, and 
all means usual on such occasions were employed, but with- 
out success. From the first stroke till her last moment the 
Empress never opened her eyes, being in a complete lethargy, 
and last night, at a quarter to ten, this incomparable Empress 
finished her brilliant reign. According to the story of Count 
Rostopchin, Dr Rogerson let blood, and applied Spanish 
flies, but agreed with the rest of the doctors in thinking the 
stroke fatal." 

The reign of Catherine may be considered the second 
greatest in the annals of Russia. The constitutional changes 
introduced by her have been already mentioned. Her foreign 
policy, likewise, had been eminently successful. The Turks 
and Swedes had been humiliated, and unhappy Poland, the 
hereditary enemy of Russia, was now divided and power- 
less. The gain in territory had been immense, especially in 
the west and south. The rich alluvial plains of Volhynia and 
Podolia, known as "the district of the black lands," had been 
added to the Empire. The frontier was now protected on 
every side, save only as regards Finland, which was annexed 
later by Alexander I. 

Of the many new towns called into existence by Catherine, 
we have already spoken, though we shall find later that some 
of her work in this respect was undone by Paul, who was 
never so happy as when he was nullifying his mothers 



1796] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 243 

labours. Russia was divided into Governments (Gubernii), 
which were again sub-divided into districts or arrondisse- 
ments (uyezdi). 

Something like a national literature now came into being; 
though Michael Lomonosov, the father of the modern style, 
can hardly be considered as belonging to her reign, seeing 
that he died in 1765. A galaxy of authors enjoyed the 
patronage of the Court, some of whom, however, are now 
almost forgotten. It was necessary in those days for a poet 
to seek court favour, for the reading public was too small to 
enable a writer to live by his works. 

Michael Kheraskov ( 1 7 33- 1 80 7 ) wrote two epics : the Rossiada 
in twelve books, and Vladimer in eight. These productions 
belong to the school of the Henriade. Perhaps at a future 
day their chief claim to be remembered will be based on the 
fact that it was they which first aroused in Turgueniev when 
a boy a love for the language and literature of his country. 
The poems of Kheraskov were read to him by one of the 
family serfs. 

Bogdanovich (1 743-1 803) has left a graceful poem entitled 
" Dushenka," which is a Russian adaptation of the story of 
Cupid and Psyche. Khemnitzer is important as being the 
first Russian fabulist and as having developed a species of 
literature which is peculiarly adapted to the Russian character. 
He was the precursor of the witty Krilov. In Sumarokov, 
who died in 1777, Russia had a playwright of considerable 
merit. At first a mere imitator of the French, and, indeed, 
he never got out of the heresy of the rhymed tragedy, he 
afterwards took to national subjects, and saw the highly 
dramatic nature of the story of the False Demetrius, as, 
indeed, did Lope de Vega in a contemporary Spanish 
play. 

But the laureate of the court of Catherine was Derzhavin 
( 1 743-1816), a man who attempted many kinds of com- 
position. He wrote a grandiose ode on the taking of Izmail 
by Suvorov ; another entitled " The Waterfall," and a poem 
addressed to the Almighty. He handles his native language 



244 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i796 

with considerable dexterity, though somewhat bombastic ; 
rhetorical poetry being at that time greatly in vogue through- 
out Europe. Derzhavin imitated such works as the " Night 
Thoughts " of Young, of which a Russian version had 
appeared. 

It is an interesting fact that English literature began almost 
at once to influence the Russian Petrine renaissance, as we 
may call it, and has continued to do so to the present day. 
Translations of Sterne, Smollett, and Fielding appeared, and 
Shakespeare began to be dimly known. Indeed Catherine 
herself wrote a kind of adaptation of the " Merry Wives of 
Windsor/' 

Genuine Russian comedy appeared in the writings of Von 
Visin (i 744-1 792). In spite of his German name the author 
was a thorough Russian. One of his ancestors had been taken 
prisoner in the wars waged- by Ivan the Terrible in the Baltic 
provinces. The two plays of Von Visin are the Brigadier 
and the Minor {Nedorosl). It is upon the latter that his 
fame chiefly rests. He has drawn a vigorous picture of the 
coarseness and ignorance of Russian provincial life. Besides 
these comedies we have some very interesting letters of Von 
Visin describing the condition of France just before the 
Revolution. 

As already said, Catherine has been charged by some 
writers with having in the latter part of her reign abandoned 
her enthusiasm for liberty. The charge seems to a certain 
extent just, and the cause must be sought in the universal 
terror aroused by the excesses of the French Revolution. We 
know from what happened in our own country, that the 
Russians were not alone in being affected in this way. 

The persecution of Xovikov was one result of this change 
in Catherine's views. He was one of the most prominent 
literary men of the day, having been born in the village of 
Tikhvinka, near Moscow, in 1744. After serving for some 
time in the army he retired and took to literary pursuits. He 
was indefatigable in his efforts to educate the people, and 
published a series of valuable works, such as the " Old 



1796] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 245 

Russian Library." the " Dictionary of Russian Authors," and 
various translations of foreign works. He was, in fact, like 
Charles Knight in this country, a pioneer in the cause of 
national education ; his object being to provide the Russian 
public with wholesome books. 

These were the great days of periodicals, the example for 
which had been given by Addison in the Spectator. These 
periodicals became very popular in Russia, and one of the 
best-known editors of them was Novikov. Even Catherine 
herself condescended occasionally to write in them. At first 
Novikov published a journal called the Drone (Truten) in 
opposition to the Busy Bee (Trudoliubivaya Pcheld) of 
Sumarokov, and afterwards another named The Painter 
(Z/u'vopisets). Just as Addison playfully touched upon the 
foibles and shortcomings of English society, so did Novikov 
in the Essays which he published in his periodicals. Thus 
we have letters of a father and mother to their son, and of an 
uncle to his niece. Many of these are very amusing and 
show clearly enough the faults of contemporary Russian 
society. In this respect Novikov became an admirable co- 
operator with the spirited comedies of Von Visin. It was, 
however, not until he had taken up his abode at Moscow, 
toward the end of the seventies, that Novikov began his 
great efforts for the intellectual and social progress of his 
countrymen. The journal Moscow News (Moskovskia Viedo- 
mosti) had about 600 subscribers till Novikov became the 
editor. In ten years the number had increased to 4000 — 
a proof that the Russian public was eager for literature. 
Soon after this Novikov and his friend Gamaleya founded a 
learned society, with which another friend, Prof. Schwarz, 
also co-operated. The object of it was to improve education 
in the country. Funds were procured from those who 
sympathised with the plan, and poor students were supported, 
who in their turn became teachers and spread education. 
Not contented with this, they also began to establish libraries 
in various towns and to sell books at a low price. They 
soon inspired such confidence that many outsiders began to 



246 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1796 

invest their capital in the undertaking. Novikov, however, 
in consequence of his liberal opinions, got into trouble with 
the Government, which was increased by the fact that he was 
mixed up with some secret societies, to all of which Catherine 
had a great objection. As a result of this, the courageous 
litterateur was imprisoned in the fortress of Schliisselburg, 
where he remained till the death of the Empress. When 
Paul came to the throne he at once ordered him to be 
released and wished him to come to court. But Novikov, 
weighed down with years and troubles, retired to his estate 
at Tikhvinka and there died in 1818. 

Under the regime of Catherine an entirely new system of 
education was introduced, chiefly through the labours of 
Betski and Zavadovski. Schools were established for all 
classes of society. The St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, 
in spite of many unfavourable circumstances into which it 
was forced by the influence of ignorant people, laboured to 
considerable advantage. The brothers Bernoulli, Delille and 
especially the famous Euler, rendered great services to 
mathematics. Bayer, one of the chief philologists of his time, 
was the first critical writer on Russian history, a branch of study 
which has been greatly developed in Russia in our own time. 
The Russians are fortunate in having a series of chronicles in 
the vernacular extending from the time of Nestor, who was born 
about 1056 and died about n 14, to the days of Alexis the 
father of Peter the Great. We have no space to discuss 
these lietopisi of the various cities written chiefly by monks 
in their cloisters; but it will not be inappropriate here to 
say something about the rise of historical study which may 
be said to date from the days of Catherine. The old 
chronicles are for the most part dry, always excepting that 
called after Nestor, which contains many picturesque sagas. 
They furnish, however, very valuable matter, and must be 
consulted by all those who wish to thoroughly understand 
Russian history. The attempt of Basil Tatistchev (1685- 
175 1) has already been mentioned. Lomonosov also wrote 
a short Russian history, but of no particular merit. The first 



1790] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 247 

real Russian historian was Nicholas Karamzin who, although 
he wrote some works in the reign of Catherine, produced his 
opus magnum in that of Alexander, where we propose to deal 
with him at greater length. 

If the treatment of Novikov by Catherine was harsh, still 
more severe was her behaviour towards Radistchev, a Russian 
official. The latter had been educated at the University of 
Leipzig, where he had inbibed liberal ideas. In a work 
entitled, "A Journey to Moscow," the idea of which is 
taken from Sterne's "Sentimental Journey," he described 
some of the more distressing results of serfdom and told 
some disagreeable truths which were by no means acceptable 
to those in authority. For this he was banished to Siberia, 
but after a time was allowed to return. 

The obnoxious book appeared in 1790, and was printed 
by Radistchev at his own press. It managed to pass the 
censor j and Radistchev, by sending copies to his friends and 
acquaintances, placed many of them and more particularly 
Derzhavin in a very awkward position. The poet, however, 
got out of the predicament by informing against the book ; 
on July 8th, Khrapovitski, the secretary of the Empress who 
has left a very interesting diary, writes that Catherine, speak- 
ing of Radistchev's book, had said : " It is a spreading of the 
French plague ; the author is a martinist, he is a rebel worse 
than Pugachev, he praises Franklin." In this same month 
of July the Empress ordered the writer to be arrested and 
tried. She wrote to General Bruce that "The Journey to 
Moscow " was a book filled with the most prejudicial ideas 
calculated to disturb the public peace, weakening that due 
respect which ought to be felt for the authorities, aiming at pro- 
ducing among the people discontent with the government, and 
finally, containing insulting expressions against the Imperial 
dignity and power. Radistchev was arrested and brought 
before Bruce, after which he was thrown into chains and 
imprisoned in a fortress. He was ultimately sent to Siberia 
for ten years, but after little more than a year was allowed to 
return to his country seat. He did not, however, visit the 



248 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1790 

capital again till the reign of Alexander I., who restored to 
him his rank and orders and put him into a commission for 
codifying the laws. Count Peter Vasilievich Zavadovski, who 
was the president of this commission, did not appreciate the 
ideas of Radistchev, which the latter was too fond of ventilat- 
ing. Radistchev had drawn up the plan of a civil code 
which he proposed to lay before the Commission ; but before 
this could be done he had a misunderstanding with Count 
Zavadovski, in which the president remarked, among other 
things, that the opinions of Radistchev would bring him no 
good, and even introduced the fatal word Siberia. Radistchev 
was thunderstruck by this language, and said to his children : 
What, will they send me again to Siberia? In his project 
of legal reform, Radistchev proposed to introduce some very 
radical changes, such as the equality of all before the law, 
public trial, freedom of religious opinion and of the press, 
etc. On the morning of September 2$, 1802, in an attack 
of hypochondria, he committed suicide by taking poison. 

Radistchev has a great reputation among his countrymen 
at the present day as one of the apostles of the emancipation 
of the serf. In modern times " The Journey to Moscow " 
had become a rarity, although copies are occasionally to 
be found in old book shops. It has, however, latterly been 
republished in a very handsome style. 

Radistchev's book was certainly a very bold one for the 
time when it was written. He justifies the peasants who 
have assassinated a cruel master, just as some years later 
the serfs of Arakcheev actually murdered the housekeeper 
who had tyrannised over them. When Radistchev speaks of 
slavery he apostrophises it as an Asiatic barbarism which 
weighs upon the Slavs. Who, he asks, undergoes this 
cruel bondage? It is he who tills the soil, who provides us 
with the means of satisfying our hunger. W T ho, adds he, 
has a right to the soil? Surely he who cultivates it. And 
can we call that state happy in which two-thirds of the 
citizens are deprived of their rights? Do we call that a 
happy country where a hundred proud citizens enjoy every 



1790] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 249 

luxury, and a thousand have neither the food which is 
necessary to sustain existence nor shelter from the heat and 
cold? But Radistchev goes even further, and we cannot 
wonder at the Government becoming alarmed. He in fact 
prophesied a social war. "The danger," he says, "is gradu- 
ally coming. It already hangs over our heads. Already 
time is getting ready his. scythe. If only a friend of 
humanity should come to awaken the poor wretches, he 
would precipitate the stroke." 

Catherine had spoken and written in a sentimental way 
about the serfs, but she was hardly prepared to find her 
theories so carefully worked out. As early as 1776 she had 
propounded to a society which she had formed questions as 
to the proper position of the labourer with reference to the 
land which he had cultivated ; and she seems at one time to 
have really nurtured ideas favourable to the emancipation of 
the serfs. But gradually she grew timid, and more particu- 
larly after the revolt of Pugachev. In 1775 when writing to 
Prince Viazemski she again urged that something should be 
done for the serfs, adding significantly, "they will sooner or 
later take the liberty which we refuse them," thus anticipating 
the sentiments of Radistchev. Count Bludov professed to 
have seen in Catherine's hands a duly drawn-up ukaze which 
provided that peasants born after 1785 should be free. But 
no such ukaze was ever promulgated. Among the papers of 
the Empress found after her death there is one dealing with 
the nine hundred thousand serfs who had been emancipated 
when the ecclesiastical estates were confiscated. The original 
of this, which has been published by the Russian Historical 
Society, is covered with annotations in the handwriting of 
Catherine, which show what labour she had spent upon it. 
The only definite plan she had seems to have been to apply 
municipal institutions to a rural population, which was perhaps 
not very likely to succeed. But in all these matters she had 
the nobility, with whose privileges she was interfering, arrayed 
against her. It is strange that holding these opinions she 
should have been so embittered against Radistchev. It is 



250 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1773 

perhaps even stranger that the emancipation of the serfs 
seventy years later should have been carried out very much 
upon the lines which he suggested. 

Catherine had kept up a learned correspondence with 
Voltaire, Diderot, and the Abbe Grimm, and had written as 
a woman fully abreast of the convictions of her century. But 
this was the spectre in her household. In spite of her many 
defects, as has been truly remarked by M. Tourneux in his 
work on Catherine's correspondence with Diderot, she had a 
great love for letters. 

She entered into correspondence with Voltaire as early 
as 1763, but was not successful in persuading him to come to 
Russia. He had grown rather shy of being the guest of 
foreign potentates, after his experiences with Frederick the 
Great. Diderot was then editing the Encyclopedic, which 
was officially suppressed in 1759, but still continued to be 
printed in Paris, and had many subscribers in Russia. 
Within three months of her accession, Catherine had com- 
missioned Ivan Shuvalov to ask D'Alembert to undertake 
the tuition of the Grand Duke, and to invite Diderot to 
finish the Encyclopaedia in Russia. But neither of these 
accepted the offer. D'Alembert alleged as an excuse that he 
had bad health ; and Diderot, to whom Voltaire communi- 
cated the proposals of Shuvalov, also refused to go. Cathe- 
rine, however, did not allow herself to be offended by this, 
and waited for a more convenient opportunity of renewing 
her overtures. Soon afterwards Diderot, who was poor, for the 
honorarium paid him by the publishers of the Encyclopaedia 
was but trifling, being anxious to provide for the future of his 
only child — a daughter — meditated selling his library. The 
news of this was conveyed to Catherine by some Russians 
residing at Paris. She at once offered to purchase the library 
on very favourable terms for the philosopher. She engaged 
to pay him sixteen thousand livres instead of the fifteen 
thousand which he asked, but the library was to remain with 
Diderot till the Empress required it to be sent. She also 
offered him a pension of a hundred pistoles annually. When 



1773] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 251 

the news of this munificence spread, the felicitations of 
Diderot and compliments to the Empress were boundless. 
Catherine replied that it would have been cruel to separate a 
learned man from his books. " I have often," she added, with 
delicate flattery, "had occasion to fear that my own would be 
taken from me," alluding to the espionage kept over her and 
her studies during the reign of Elizabeth. 

Diderot came to Russia in 1773; he seems to have 
surprised the courtiers by his brusque manners, and the scant 
ceremony with which he treated the Empress. Many lively 
discussions took place between them. On one occasion 
Catherine closed a conversation which was becoming dis- 
agreeable to her in the following way : — 

" Monsieur Diderot, I have heard with the greatest pleasure 
all with which your brilliant wit has inspired you, but out of 
those grand principles of yours, which I understand very well, 
good works could be manufactured, but little of a practical 
purpose. In your plans of reform you forget the difference 
between our two positions : you only work upon paper, which 
allows everything; it is uniform, simple, and opposes no 
obstacle, either to your imagination or your pen ; while I, 
poor Empress, must work on human skin, which in a very 
different way is irritable and ticklish." After that, added 
Catherine, in repeating the story, we discussed no other 
subjects but morals and literature. 

In the year 1899, M. Tourneux published the contents of a 
little-known volume preserved at St Petersburg, containing 
notes of the conversations of Diderot with the Empress in 
the former's own handwriting. The French philosopher 
seems to have left Russia very contented and maintained a 
correspondence with the Empress. 

A further interesting episode of Catherine's reign upon 
which much light has recently been thrown, was her invitation 
to the French sculptor, Falconet, to execute a statue of Peter 
the Great. This proposal, however, was not altogether new 
on the part of Catherine. The agreement with Falconet 
was signed on the 31st of August 1766, and on the 15th of 



252 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1763 

September following, he quitted France and did not return for 
eleven years. At this time large numbers of Frenchmen went 
to Russia in quest of a career, and of these, such as returned 
without having succeeded, had some harsh things to say. 
Among them may be mentioned de la Riviere, of whom 
Diderot wrote in such inflated terms. This celebrated physio- 
crat was, however, not acceptable to the Empress, and he him- 
self did not like Russia. He had held for some time an official 
position at La Martinique, and this explains the allusion in 
the following cutting saying of the Empress : " He supposed 
we walked on all fours, and very politely he took the trouble 
to come from La Martinique to teach us how to stand on our 
hind legs." 

Catherine was very much offended by the "Voyage en 
Siberie" of the Abbe Chappe d'Auteroche. The French 
Academy of Sciences had commissioned him to examine the 
transit of Venus from the meridian of Tobolsk. While he 
was at St Petersburg, he received a gratuity of a thousand 
roubles from the Empress Elizabeth. This, however, did not 
prevent him from writing a caustic book upon Russia, much 
as the Marquis de Custine did in the reign of Nicholas. 
Although Catherine told Falconet that she despised the Abbe, 
she took pains that a refutation of his book should be pub- 
lished, and this appeared under the title of " Antidote ou Exa- 
men du mauvais livre superbement imprime intitule Voyage 
en Siberie" (here follows a copy of the title of the book). This 
book is considered to have been in the main written by 
Catherine herself with assistance from a Frenchman then in 
Russia. She was also very much incensed by the publication 
of the work of Rulhiere, as previously mentioned. The 
dramatic circumstances of the overthrow and death of 
Peter III. soon gave rise to the publication of pamphlets. 
In 1763 appeared Memoires pour servir a Vhistoire de 
Pierre JIL, by Ange Goudar, published at Frankfort, and, 
Anecdotes russes ou lettre d'un officier allemand a un gentil- 
homme Livonien par Schwan de la Marcke, London, 1764. 
Voltaire had taken pains to pass very lightly over the occur- 



1796] THE REIGN OF CATHERINE 253 

rence in the thirty-second chapter of his Precis du regne de 
Louis XV. (1768). According to him, Peter III. "pursued, 
captured, and put into prison, consoled himself by drinking 
punch for eight days at a stretch, at the end of which he died." 
In this Voltaire allowed himself to adopt the official version, 
but in one of his letters to Madame du Deffand, he wrote : 
" I know that she is reproached with some trifles with regard 
to her husband ; but these are family affairs with which I do 
not meddle, and besides, it is not a bad thing to have com- 
mitted a fault for which one must atone. This forces a 
person to make great efforts to arouse public esteem and 
admiration, and assuredly her detestable husband had never 
done any of the great things which my Catherine is doing 
every day" (May 1787). 

We have already alluded to the literary works of Catherine, 
her comedies, translations and essays contributed to the 
literary journals of Novikov and others. Her favourite 
reading seems to have been the works of the French encyclo- 
pedistes. With Bayie she was very familiar, as also with 
Voltaire. The historian who gave her most pleasure appears 
to have been Tacitus. In her legal studies we find her 
reading Montesquieu, Beccaria, and Blackstone. The library 
of Diderot, which on his death was transferred to the Hermitage, 
was afterwards joined by that of Voltaire. The latter was 
purchased from Madame Denis through the instrumentality 
of Grimm, although the grand-nephews of the philosopher 
were displeased at the deportation of the books. The collec- 
tion consists of about 7000 volumes, most of them bound in red 
morocco, and every volume has notes in the handwriting of 
Voltaire. The collection was afterwards still further increased 
by the transference of the Zaluski library from Warsaw to 
St Petersburg. 

Catherine also collected many valuable pictures which now 
ornament the St Petersburg gallery. In 1768 she bought 
the collection belonging to Count Briihl, and in 1772 the 
Crozat collection at Paris. 

We cannot wonder when we bear in mind the splendour 



254 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1796 

of the reign of Catherine that she made such an impression 
upon her age, and especially on her own subjects. It is 
interesting to observe how fond the great novelist Turgueniev 
is of introducing in his writings stories of this time and 
characters that at an earlier period in the century were 
survivals of the great epoch. In parts of the Zapiski 
Okhotnika and Nov are to be found several such, and in 
the clever tale entitled "Some Old Portraits" we have a 
vigorous picture of a husband and his wife of the old school. 
The commerce of Russia greatly increased under the 
regime of Catherine. Of the celebrated generals of her time 
some had laurels to win in succeeding reigns. Bibikov how- 
ever was dead, and Rumiantsov survived Catherine only a 
month. Suvorov still had his greatest work to do. There 
were the French to conquer and the Alps to be traversed. 
The Russian lives of Suvorov, who is a national hero, are full 
of the strangest stories of his odd humours, such as riding in 
his shirt sleeves, crowing like a cock to arouse the soldiers, 
and on one occasion allowing his men for practice to storm a 
monastery in Russia. He announced the taking of Izmail 
in the following quaint lines which he sent off to the empress — 

" Slava Bogu ! Slava Vam ! 
Krepost vziata i ya tarn." 

Glory to God, glory to you, 

The fortress is taken and I am there. 

But we must reserve farther details of his eccentricity till we 
come to speak of his retirement to his native village, after 
having been disgraced by Paul. 

We must not leave the reign of Catherine without making 
mention of Betski who died in 1795. T° nmi Russia owes 
many educational and charitable institutions in St Petersburg, 
and to him was entrusted the superintendence of the monu- 
ment erected to Peter the Great. 



1796] 



CHAPTER X 

THE REIGN OF PAUL 

T)AUL, who now succeeded to the Russian throne, was in 
■*■ his forty-second year, having been born in 1754. He 
was short in stature, of extreme ugliness, and had become 
bald at an early age. During the reign of his mother he had 
lived in retirement, chiefly at Gatschina. Catherine had 
always been careful to keep him in the background, and the 
courtiers had not failed to imitate their mistress. Many of 
them, however, paid dearly for their conduct when he came 
to the throne. The ill-treatment which he had received had 
no doubt contributed a great deal to the souring of his 
temper, as was the case with Tiberius, a man both physically 
and mentally much his superior. He was subject to strange 
outbursts of wrath, almost amounting to insanity. When, 
however, the fit was over, he would frankly ask forgiveness, 
and sought to make reparation. Owing to his caprices, those 
who were included in his immediate circle were in great 
dread of him, and became frequently victims of his in- 
justice. On the other hand, some strange stories are told 
of his good humour. Thus, in the memoirs of Sablukov 
(first published some years ago in Fraser's Magazine)^ we 
are told how Sablukov, who was on duty at the Palace, had 
amused himself in his monotonous occupation by drawing 
caricatures. While thus engaged on one occasion, the 
Emperor came suddenly upon him and asked to see his 
sketch-book. Sablukov, who was almost in a state of collapse, 
was obliged to hand it over. Paul turned over the pages, and 
remarked in a laughing manner — " You have no doubt got a 
likeness of me !" Sablukov, horrified, saw the Emperor come 

255 



256 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1796 

upon the caricature which he had drawn of him, and antici- 
pated some very disagreeable results. There was Paul indeed 
with the pug-nose and many other unwelcome exaggerations. 
The Emperor, however, only burst into a fit of laughter, and 
said that it was certainly an excellent likeness. 

Mme. Smirnov, in her Memoirs, speaks of having conversed 
with one of the ladies-in-waiting of the Empress Maria, Paul's 
wife, and heard from her how the poor Emperor in his 
mental alienation, like a second Caligula, paced the corridors 
of the Palace at night. They tried narcotics to cure his 
sleeplessness, but their only effect was to produce violent 
headaches. All writers, however, bear testimony to his being 
an affectionate husband and father. 

As a consequence of his existence, Catherine's position as 
sovereign had been ambiguous in the highest degree. He 
had a legal right to the throne, whereas she was a usurper, 
whose only claim was by right of actual possession. There 
even seems reason to believe that she had executed a will in 
favour of Alexander, the eldest son of Paul, thus completely 
passing the latter over in the succession. Kurakin, a favourite 
of Paul's, is said to have taken advantage of the confusion 
which occurred at the death of Catherine to obtain access to 
her apartments, and to have got hold of the will and destroyed 
it. Stories soon began to be told of the caprice and petty 
despotism of Paul. We have a faithful picture of the time in 
the Memoirs of Admiral Shishkov. The only event of im- 
portance in Paul's life hitherto had been his tour in the 
West of Europe in 1780, when he seems to have been fairly 
popular in the countries which he visited. He was twice 
married; first in 1772 to Augusta, Princess of Hesse 
Darmstadt, who died three years afterwards, leaving no 
issue; and, secondly, in 1776, to Dorothea Sophia, Princess 
of Wurtemberg, who was received into the Greek Church as 
Maria Feodorovna. 

As great a revolution de palais was now to be witnessed as 
on previous occasions when Russian sovereigns had been 
deposed. Officials of every kind who had been treated with 



1796] THE REIGN OF PAUL 257 

neglect hastened to the court. Paul's first act was to do 
honour to the memory of his father, whose neglected remains 
had not rested with those of other Tsars in the church of 
SS. Peter and Paul at St Petersburg — the church whose tall 
spire dominates the neighbourhood. He had been hastily 
interred in the monastery of St Alexander Nevski, and the 
body was now exhumed. On the coffin being opened, it is 
said that nothing was found but the boots and a few pieces 
of bone. The coffin was now borne in magnificent procession 
together with that of Catherine, and they were buried side 
by side in Petropavlovski church. Behind the coffins walked 
Alexis Orlov and the other supposed assassins of Peter, 
and when the ceremony was over they were banished for 
ever from the empire. This historic procession has been 
minutely described by Shishkov, who was an eye-witness. All 
the old courtiers who had been loyal to Peter, and had in 
consequence been under a cloud during the late reign, were 
now welcomed by the Tsar and promoted to various offices, 
while the favourites of Catherine were disgraced. Potemkin's 
remains were dragged from their pompous tomb and thrown 
on to a rubbish heap. 

Some of the changes introduced by Paul were no doubt 
whimsical and futile, but many were thoroughly sound. Thus 
he put an end to the pernicious custom whereby the sons of 
aristocratic families were, from their cradles, registered as 
holding commissions in the army without ever being com- 
pelled to perform military service ; owing to which the 
Russian army in the time of Catherine had to a large extent 
consisted of paper forces. 

The character of Paul soon began to reveal itself ; he alter- 
nated in the strangest way between paroxysms of severity and 
generosity. The explanation of his conduct lies, it may be, 
in certain elements of insanity in his temperament. If it 
were possible to find room in a short work like the present, 
many pages might be filled with anecdotes of the most 
amusing character. 

At the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nine- 



258 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1796 

teenth century Russia was visited by one of the most pene- 
trating and instructive of travellers, Dr Edward Clarke, the 
Cambridge professor. It was through him that the English 
public became so familiar with the caprice of Paul, and the 
picture has remained fresh to the present day. 

With effusive generosity Paul released Kosciuszko and the 
Polish prisoners who were incarcerated in Russia. Niem- 
cewicz, while narrating these occurrences, tells us of Paul : 
11 He said himself, and I have no doubt sincerely, that if he 
had reigned at the time, far from co-operating in the partition 
of Poland he would have been strongly opposed to it." 
Many terrible stories are told about persons who, without 
even the knowledge of Catherine, had been thrust by the 
influence of their personal enemies into oubliettes, where, after 
many years of hopeless captivity, they had expired. Some of 
those rescued by Paul had hardly preserved their reason. 

One of the basest of the flatterers of Paul was the notorious 
Arakcheev, who was his evil genius, as he was later that of 
his son, Alexander I. We shall hear more of this man in the 
reign of the latter, but as he is an important historical figure 
and was destined to play the part of a second Sejanus, a few 
biographical details may here be given. Neither from his 
birth nor the personal qualities of Arakcheev could a 
brilliant career have been prognosticated for him. He was the 
son of a poor gentleman of the government of Novgorod, 
possessed of about twenty peasants, and was born in 1769. 
When he had afterwards come to be a conspicuous person in 
the country he was anxious to manufacture a pedigree for 
himself, and started the fiction that his father had been a 
major in the army. As a lad Arakcheev received no instruc- 
tion save such as the village priest could give him, and the 
latter was paid in agricultural produce. Towards the close of 
the year 1782 he was taken by his father to St Petersburg 
with the object of being enrolled in the Corps of Cadets, the 
money for the journey being raised by the sale of, among 
other things, two oxen. The father, however, was too poor to 
bribe the court officials as was necessary in those days ; and 



1796] THE REIGN OF PAUL 259 

his petition remained unanswered for six months, during 
which period father and son suffered all the trials of extreme 
poverty. They were obliged to beg of the Metropolitan 
Gabriel, and received as an alms a rouble, upon which they 
lived for ten days. Both father and son were to be seen day 
after day on the steps of the Cadets' School, vainly hoping 
by their profound bows to attract the attention of General 
Milessino as he went to his carriage. 

It was the son who finally had the boldness to accost the 
general and tell him of their deplorable destitution. Milessino 
went back to his study and returned with a favourable answer. 
Gradually, by complete obedience and regular habits, the 
young man pushed his way. He showed some talent for 
mathematics, but was more conspicuous for his roughness 
and ill-manners; when he was promoted to assist in the 
education and training of the cadets, he soon made himself 
notorious by the cruel personal chastisement which he in- 
flicted. Afterwards he managed to attract the attention of 
Count Saltikov, and in 1790 we find him adjutant and captain. 

Two years later, when Paul, then Grand Duke, requested 
General Milessino to find him a man to take the charge of 
the artillery at Gatschina, Arakcheev was selected for the 
post, and found himself on the high road to favour. His 
extraordinary activity as a martinet of the most exacting and 
rigorous kind recommended him to Paul, and on the latter's 
accession his fortunes were made. On the very day of the 
death of the Empress Catherine he was appointed command- 
ant of St Petersburg, and created major-general, though barely 
twenty-seven years old. Honours continued to be showered 
upon him in rapid succession. In the course of a few months 
he was made baron, lieutenant-general, knight of the order 
of St Alexander Nevski and quartermaster-general of the 
Russian army. 

The new Emperor soon made himself disliked by reviving 
many obsolete imperial privileges. He had the true spirit of 
a martinet, and was very strict in matters of etiquette. People 
had to get out of their carriages when they met him and kneel 



260 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1796 

in the mud. He had many particular antipathies, and was 
constantly issuing ukazes about the shape of a hat or a coat. 
His especial wrath was kindled by anything which seemed to 
show that the bearer sympathised with the principles of the 
French Revolution. We are told in the memoirs of Pushkin 
that Paul had once met the future author of " Evgenii 
Oniegin " when a baby, and snatched the child's cap off 
because the nurse was not quick enough in doing so. But he 
was above all things infatuated with the idea of introducing 
the German dress into the army, just as his unfortunate father 
had been. Soldiers must now wear pigtails, have their hair 
powdered, and go about in gaiters. These changes were not 
pleasing to the veterans of Catherine's time who had had their 
baptisms of fire under other conditions. Public opinion, as 
far as it could venture to express itself, did so in a plethora of 
cutting epigrams and pasquinades — the invariable resource of 
a country where free discussion is denied. Suvorov himself 
got into trouble for some lines in which he had said that 
hair-powder was not gunpowder and pig-tails were not bayonets ; 
and he remained in disgrace at his estate in the government 
of Novgorod till his services became indispensable to Paul. 
Kotzebue, the dramatist, venturing to return to Russia during 
the reign of Paul, was for a fancied offence at once sent off 
to Siberia, though afterwards as capriciously pardoned, by the 
Emperor. He tells us how he was sent for on one occasion 
by Paul, who gravely announced that he thought the con- 
tinental wars then raging would be best put a stop to if the 
European sovereigns would fight it out propria persona ; and 
announced his intention of sending a challenge to each. 
Shishkov in his memoirs, already quoted, says that on one 
occasion, seeing a pompous-looking man in the surrounding 
crowd, Paul at once sent him (Shishkov) to tell the man that 
he was a great fool ! When a foreign ambassador once spoke 
to him of a certain Russian being a great man, Paul is reported 
to have replied, that no man was great in Russia except he be 
one to whom the Emperor spoke, and that man was great 
only so long as the Emperor was speaking to him. 



1798] THE REIGN OF PAUL 261 

But the drollest scenes were witnessed on parade, where the 
Emperor would cane with his own hand any delinquent soldier 
who had been careless about his buttons. On one occasion he 
was much displeased with the unsoldierly appearance of a 
regiment, and when he gave the order to march, added, " to 
Siberia." Officers and men obeyed at once, and had pro- 
ceeded some way on their journey, when they were overtaken 
by a courier sent by the Tsar, with orders to return. 

Paul, however, showed himself wise in altering the law of 
Peter the Great, whereby the sovereign was able to dispose of 
the succession by will. This had opened the door to many 
irregularities, and had placed on the throne female sovereigns, 
who were mere puppets, while the political strings were pulled, 
not only by Russian intriguers, but even by unscrupulous 
foreign adventurers. 

At first it seemed as if the reign was to be a tranquil one, 
Paul having definitely said that Russia stood in need of peace. 
His reign, which only lasted about four years and six months 
(November 1796 to March 1801), seemed to afford but little 
opportunity for any prolonged struggle. But he was never- 
theless drawn into a war with France. As an autocratic 
monarch he had no sympathy with a republic. The un- 
fortunate Louis XVIIL, expelled from one court after another, 
found refuge at Mittau, the capital of Courland. Thither 
repaired Madame Royale, the daughter of Louis XVI., and 
the Abbe Edgeworth, who had accompanied her father on the 
scaffold. At Mittau the French princess was married to her 
cousin the Due d'Angouleme. At Mittau also the worthy 
Abbe Edgeworth was buried. The French had now taken 
Malta, where in 1798 the knights had offered Paul the dignity 
of Grand Master, which he had accepted with much enthusiasm. 
Paul therefore was not without a reason for joining with Turkey, 
England, Austria, and Naples in a coalition against Bonaparte. 

Meanwhile, Suvorov was vegetating in his country retreat, 
reading the lessons on Sundays in the church, singing in the 
choir, and ringing the bells. He was still the quaint humourist 
of the days of Catherine, and, according to one story, when 



262 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1799 

the letter of the Emperor reached him summoning him to 
take the command of the Russian army, he was ready with a 
new prank. On seeing the letter addressed Field-Marshal 
Suvorov, Commander-in-Chief, etc., etc., he sent it back, 
adding that there was no such person in the village, but only 
a certain Count Suvorov, and therefore the letter could not 
be for him. Russia now sent troops to Verona, where, 
according to arrangement, Suvorov took the command of the 
combined Prussian and Austrian armies. He is said to have 
surprised the Archduke Charles by the simplicity of the 
tactics which he advocated. In 1799 he defeated Moreau, 
the French general, on the banks of the Adda, and made 
a triumphal entry into Milan, which, with the exception of 
the citadel, had been evacuated by Moreau. Suvorov then 
turned to meet Macdonald, the other French general, who had 
marched from the South to the Trebbia, and, in a battle on the 
banks of that river, which lasted three days, completely defeated 
him with a loss on the French side of 18,000 men. Suvorov 
wished to follow up his victory, but was soon obliged to re- 
turn to Alessandria, not having received the requisite support 
of his Austrian co-operator, General Cray, who remained 
inactive near Mantua in consequence of orders from the 
Austrian court. Indeed, it seems tolerably clear that Suvorov 
was altogether hampered in his movements owing to the 
want of harmony among those who were supposed to co-operate 
in his plans. We are told that this annoyed him so much 
that he asked permission from the Emperor to retire ; who 
was, moreover, much displeased with the way in which the 
King of Sardinia had been treated by the Austrians. 

After the defeat on the Trebbia the power of the French in 
Italy was crushed. They could with difficulty maintain them- 
selves in Nice and Tortona. The King of Naples recovered 
his dominions ; Rome was freed ; Mantua fell, and the 
citadels of Turin and Alessandria surrendered to the 
conqueror. The Directory, however, made up its mind to 
strike yet another blow, and despatched Joubert, a skilful 
although youthful general, to drive the allied forces out of 



1799] THE REIGN OF PAUL 263 

Piedmont. Joubert took up a good position on the heights 
near Novi with 40,000 men. The battle proved a very severe 
one, but ended in the complete defeat of the French, who 
lost 7000 men ; a great many prisoners, as well as all the 
artillery being captured. Joubert himself was killed. It was 
with difficulty that Moreau gathered together the fragments of 
the army and retreated into the defiles of the Maritime Alps. 
On account of these brilliant victories, Paul raised Suvorov to 
the rank of a prince and conferred many favours upon him. 

After this, if we may believe the Russian historians implicitly, 
the veteran's plans were changed by his allies. The Arch- 
duke Charles, by remaining for a long time inactive at Zurich, 
had allowed the French to mass 70,000 men in Switzerland, 
whereas the Russians had no more than 50,000 under arms. 
Instead of supporting Rimski-Korsakov, the other Russian 
general in Switzerland, he had made a division, and before 
Suvorov could join Korsakov the latter had been beaten by 
the French with the loss of 10,000 men. 

Suvorov's position was now much as follows. After he had 
driven the French out of Lombardy, and inflicted a decided 
disaster upon them at Novi, the Austrians considered that they 
had no further need of the services of Russia. Meanwhile, how- 
ever, matters were going on badly for them in Switzerland, and 
they were also obliged to send an army to the Rhine in order to 
oppose the progress of the French in that direction. It was there- 
fore resolved that the Archduke Charles should remove his 
forces from Switzerland to the Rhine, and that Suvorov should 
replace him in Italy. But it was impossible to remove the 
Austrian army from Switzerland before the arrival of Suvorov, 
except at the risk of subjecting the Russian corps of Rimski 
Korsakov to the chances of a defeat, the latter being en- 
camped opposite to the French general Massena on the river 
Limat near Zurich. Accordingly it was arranged that the 
Russians should replace the Austrians in Switzerland 
gradually and with an equal number of men. Baron Thugut 
personally assured the English ambassador that the Austrians 
would evacuate Switzerland only when an equal number of 



264 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1799 

Russians had occupied their positions. But in the event, 
the arrangement was not adhered to. Baron Thugut, anxious 
that the Netherlands should be protected, instructed the 
Archduke Charles to evacuate Switzerland without waiting 
for the arrival of Suvorov. 

In this way Rimski-Korsakov was left alone vis-a-vis with 
Massena, a circumstance of which the latter was not slow 
to avail himself. Suvorov, who knew Korsakov to be self- 
confident and careless, seems to have foreseen the result, 
and hastened to Switzerland as best he could. He wrote to 
Count Vorontsov as follows : "Although I fear nothing in the 
world, I must say that Massena will not wait for us but will 
make straight for Korsakov." The route taken by Suvorov 
was by way of the St Gothard and the Devil's Bridge to 
Altorf and thence to Schwytz and Lucerne, thus giving him 
a position in which he might be very dangerous to the French 
on their flank and rear. This route was certainly the shortest 
and, if only on that account, the best under the circumstances. 
It is true that the French were on the track and there were 
immense local difficulties, but Suvorov knew that these were 
to be overcome, and gave a brilliant proof of his strategic 
skill. The plan was moreover fraught with the danger of 
Massena defeating piecemeal an enemy coming up in detach- 
ments from various quarters : still it seems to have been 
justified by the crisis to which matters had come. If Suvorov 
could arrive before Massena attacked Korsakov, his object 
would be fully attained even though he lost a great number 
of men. The steps taken by Suvorov have been subjected 
to much criticism, into which, however, we cannot now enter. 

To carry out the arrangement it was settled that provisions, 
and mules to the number of 1400, should be collected at 
Taverno, on the borders of Switzerland. Melas, the Austrian 
general, in response to Suvorov's request, had promised that 
the Austrians would see to this. But when the Russian 
general, with an army of 18,000 men, arrived at Taverno on 
the 1 6th of September, he found that nothing had been done. 
The condition of the Russian forces was in consequence 



1799] THE REIGN OF PAUL 265 

deplorable. Nothing was to be got on the mountains ; the 
inhabitants were of the poorest class, and Suvorov had no 
alternative but to delay his march. Almost beside himself, 
he reported to the Emperor that the Austrians were merely 
playing tricks upon him, and that the position of the Russian 
army might become very perilous. In another letter he 
wrote that he had come to Taverno ; that there were " no 
mules nor horses, but there was Thugut and mountains 
and disasters." Even in his agonies the epigrammatic 
commander could not cease from pleasantry. At last 
Suvorov contrived to procure some stores in the neigh- 
bourhood; but, in the meantime, five days and nights had 
elapsed and this loss of time proved fatal. The Archduke, 
by his departure from Switzerland, had placed the Russians 
in a very critical position ; and the breach of faith had created 
a want of confidence which had a still worse effect. On 
September 22nd the Russians marched from Taverno. 
Rosenberg was sent to make a circuit from Biasco to 
Digentis with the object of falling upon the rear of the 
French who were defending the St Gothard ; and on the 
25th of September Suvorov attacked. The French for a 
time maintained themselves firmly, their positions were strong, 
but Suvorov eventually drove them back and captured the 
pass. At the same time Rosenberg attacked and defeated 
them in the rear. The Russians encamped for the night in 
the Hospenthal and Andermatt (Ursern). Suvorov, satisfied 
with the day's work, on the following morning commenced 
the attack of the Urnerloch and the Devil's Bridge. The 
day was one of desperate onsets. The Russians had to 
clamber up granite rocks, to ford the strong current of the 
Reuss, and to pass over burning bridges. The French, under 
the command of the brave and skilful General Lecourbe, 
disputed the ground step by step. On the 27th of September 
Suvorov occupied Altorf only to find to his consternation 
that there was no further road to Schwytz. The rocks of 
the Rostock ridge hang over the lake, and the only com- 
munication, that by water, was cut off owing to the fact 



266 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1799 

that all the boats were in the hands of the French. The 
determination and energy of the Russian commander once 
more asserted themselves. He found out from the in- 
habitants that through Rostock, along the pass of Kinzig- 
Kulm, there was a narrow path only suited for shepherds 
or chamois hunters, which led to the village of Muthen. 
"Wherever," exclaimed Suvorov, "a stag can go, there a 
soldier can go." It was by this narrow path that he led his 
army. The pass was indeed terrible, and the march through 
it lasted two days. It was not until the 1st October that the 
army was concentrated in the village of Muthen. There was 
still a long journey to Schwytz. But now Suvorov had the 
mortification of learning that on the 26th of the previous 
month Massena had attacked and defeated Rimski-Korsakov. 
The other Russian detachments had also met with similar 
reverses, and the French army now on all sides surrounded 
that of Suvorov, consisting of 10,000 men. There appeared 
no means of escape, except by cutting their way through the 
ranks of the enemy. Suvorov, who now had not only to 
make up his own mind, but to convince the other generals, 
summoned a council (to which the Austrians were not 
invited) to meet in a convent lying on his route. Here 
occurred a never-to-be-forgotten scene, of which Bagration, 
who was present, has left a description. 

When the others entered the room they found Suvorov 
dressed in the full uniform of a field-marshal. He bowed to 
them, and then closed his eyes as if in deep thought. After 
a pause he opened them, and with looks that seemed to flash 
fire began to speak in bold and decided tones. His whole 
being seemed changed ; no one had ever before seen him 
look as he then did. Briefly alluding to what had occurred 
in Switzerland, he seemed barely able to control his feelings 
of disgust. He reminded his hearers of all the difficulties 
and obstacles which had been placed in his way by Thugut 
and the Austrian Hofkriegsrath ; for without the confirmation 
of the latter no military operation could be undertaken, and 
it was thus that his action had been fettered. He continued 



1799] THE REIGN OF PAUL 267 

by stating his belief that the Russians had been forced to 
quit Italy by an intrigue, of which the Austrians had reaped the 
advantage ; and that the perfidy of Thugut culminated in the 
sudden recall of the Archduke Charles from Switzerland. The 
detention of the Russians at Taverno, he added, bore upon its 
very face the clearest signs of treason ; and it was owing to 
this treachery that Korsakov had been defeated, and he, 
Suvorov, had arrived too late. 

Having said thus much, Suvorov paused, as if to give time 
to his generals to appreciate to the full the meaning of his 
words. He then continued : they had a few biscuits and 
guns left ; it was impossible to reach Schwytz : to retreat 
was disgraceful. " We can get help from no quarter ; our 
only hope is in God and the steadiness of our troops." So 
he continued to speak with an ever-increasing agitation and 
bitterness of language. All were moved at the distress of 
the grey-headed commander who had led them in so many 
battles. All felt that they would yield up their lives in 
following him. To this effect they spoke. Suvorov lifted 
up his head, gave them one bright look of thanks, and ex- 
pressed his firm conviction that there would be a victory — a 
double victory, both over the enemy and over the bad faith 
of their allies. It was then decided to retreat across the 
pass in an easterly direction towards Glarus. Rosenberg 
was left in the valley of Muthen, where an attack might be 
expected, after repulsing which he was to follow the rest of 
the army in retreat. 

During the 1st and 2nd of October there was uninterrupted 
fighting both in the valley of Muthen and round Glarus. 
Massena made a furious attack, thinking that the Russians 
were in a position from which they could not extricate them- 
selves, and that they all, including the commander and his 
staff, would fall into his hands. Suvorov, however, succeeded 
in crossing the Pragel Pass into Glarus ; and Rosenberg even 
forced the French to retreat. The Cossacks pursued, and 
the fierce struggle culminated round the bridge which crosses 
the Muota, where the French were hampered by the difficulties 



268 



A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 



[1799 



of the locality. The Russians meanwhile had reached Glarus, 
but they still had the difficult pass of Ringenkopf before them. 
Here they suffered a great deal from frost and snow and bad 
weather; but managed to force their way into the Grison 
territory by the pass Panix. Throughout all these horrors 
the Russian soldiers had shown of what metal they were 



SWOJIOflFS CltOSSJJVG of tfre^4.I^JPS 




ErfffZJfiUs 2 



3». J*r-ccff;eZ JPccss 






made. Their privations were shared by their commander and 
his officers, among the latter being the Grand Duke Constan- 
tine, destined to be well known in connection with the Polish 
insurrection. The iron courage of Suvorov and his gallant 
band finally triumphed ; at Hants he was in the valley of the 
Rhine, and soon afterwards reached Cur. Thence by way of 
Feldkirchen with the remnants of the two armies he directed 
his march to Russia. 



1800] THE REIGN OF PAUL 269 

On the 20th September 1898, a monument was erected to 
commemorate this celebrated expedition. It consists of a 
gigantic cross ornamented with a bronze wreath and two swords, 
and is cut in the face of the rock at the Devil's Bridge at the 
spot where one of the most difficult and glorious feats of the 
Swiss expedition took place. The form of the memorial was 
to a certain extent settled by the Swiss government, who were 
unwilling that anything should be erected more than a quasi 
tombstone of the Russian soldiers who fell. 

On his return to Russia Suvorov was destined to experience 
the ingratitude of Paul, who was doubtless displeased at the 
great losses which the Russian army had sustained ; for it has 
been calculated that Suvorov lost quite a third of his men. 
The Emperor refused to see him, and the veteran retired to 
his estate Kantchansk in the government ot Novgorod, where 
he soon after died in 1800. The English ambassador was 
the only person present at his funeral. Over his grave in the 
Alexandro-Nevski monastery are inscribed these three words, 
" Here lies Suvorov " {Zdies lezhit Suvorov). On his way back 
to Russia he had stood by the grave of Laudon, one of the 
generals of Frederick the Great at Neu Teschen. He looked 
at the long Latin inscription enumerating the deeds and 
titles of Laudon, and said, " What is the use of all this long 
inscription ? " and then turning to Fuchs, the director of his 
Chancery, he said, " I tell you my wish," and then uttered 
the three words as the epitaph which he desired for himself. 

The capricious Paul now seems to have completely changed 
his views and sympathies. He declared himself disgusted 
with the treatment which he had received not only from 
Austria but at the hands of England ; for Russia had suffered 
from the incapacity and blunders of the Duke of York in 
Holland. Bonaparte took advantage of this irritation on the 
part of Paul, and stimulated it by secret intrigues. He gained 
over at St Petersburg two very influential persons, viz., Kutaisov 
who had been promoted by the Emperor from the humble 
status of a barber, and the celebrated Rostopchin of whom 
we shall hear so much in the reign of Alexander. The last 



270 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isoo 

named was a few years older than Paul's other minion 
Arakcheev, having been born in 1765 in the government of 
Orel. His father was a retired lieutenant, but nothing is 
known of the earlier history of his family which does not 
seem in any way to have been illustrious. He was fond of 
speaking of himself as descended from Tatar princes, but 
many of these statements appear to have been legendary. 
He had seen some military service, having been in one of the 
Turkish campaigns, but had quarrelled with Suvorov and left 
the army in 1792. We next hear of him as gentleman of the 
bedchamber to the Emperor Paul whose favour he won, as 
did Arakcheev by his obsequiousness and attention to minute 
details. On the death of Catherine, Paul appointed him 
brigadier and soon after major-general and president of the 
military college, which was equivalent to his being made 
minister of war. In 1798 he was made minister of foreign 
affairs. We shall find him throughout to have been a Russian 
of the old type, uncompromising in his policy and a thorough 
hater of western ideas. One of his first steps was to get rid 
of General Dumouriez who had been sent to St Petersburg to 
carry on intrigues for the Bourbons. 

Paul at first did not seem to wish to break with the English, 
and a certain number of Russian troops were allowed to 
remain interned in Guernsey, whither they had been sent on 
the failure of the Duke of York's expedition. But a quarrel 
soon broke out because the English would not exchange some 
of their French prisoners for the Russians who had been 
taken, and gave Paul to understand that they intended to 
keep the island of Malta which that fantastic sovereign seemed 
to consider as being under his immediate protection. 

Napoleon understood how to work upon these feelings, and 
sent back the Russian prisoners newly clothed and armed. 
Paul now recalled his troops from Guernsey, but the English 
detained them yet a little longer with a view of baffling the 
intrigues of Paul and Napoleon. The immediate cause, 
however, of the outbreak of war between England and Russia 
was that Paul, like his mother before him, challenged the 



1800] THE REIGN OF PAUL 271 

right of search of neutral vessels which the English claimed 
in time of war. 

In this attempt Paul was joined by Prussia, Sweden and 
Denmark. In 1 800 sixteen English ships appeared before Copen- 
hagen and threatened to bombard the city if Denmark did not 
acknowledge England's right of search. The Danes, however, 
through the skilful diplomacy of their minister, Count Berns- 
torf, were able to stave the difficulty off without sacrificing 
any of their rights. 

On the 5th of September 1800, Malta capitulated, and the 
English took possession. When the news reached Paul he 
was beside himself with rage. Lord Whitworth, the am- 
bassador, had already been ordered to quit St Petersburg, 
and on the 7th of November, Paul laid an embargo on three 
hundred English ships in Russian ports, and sent their crews 
prisoners into the interior. Shortly before this, the unhappy 
Louis XVIII. had been ordered to quit Mittau at the most 
unfavourable period of the year. The exile was soon to 
understand how many of the potentates of Europe were offer- 
ing their homage to the rising power of Bonaparte. The 
melancholy journey of the Royalist fugitives commenced on 
the nth of January 1801. The weather was in the highest 
degree unfavourable, and the route to be traversed devoid of 
all opportunities of comfort. We have full details in the 
diary of one of the suite of Louis, a certain Viscomte de 
Hardouineau, which is now preserved in the Bibliotheque 
Nationale, and has as yet been printed only in the extracts 
given by M. Kraushar. The titular king was allowed by the 
Prussian monarch to take up his abode at Warsaw, which at 
that time was in the possession of the Prussians. But even 
while there he was not free from the espionage which Fouche 
directed against him. Napoleon is said to have entertained 
the design of having him seized as he had done in the case of 
the Due d'Enghien. We also hear of proposals being made 
to him that he should receive as a kingdom a portion of dis- 
membered Poland. But he eventually returned to Mittau in 
the reign of Alexander. 



272 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isoi 

At Christmas, 1800, Gustavus IV. was invited to St 
Petersburg, which city he had not visited since the reign of 
Catherine, when he behaved so badly towards Paul's daughter. 
But Paul was now bent upon carrying into effect his con- 
federation against the English. A fleet was commissioned 
and an army was placed under the command of Saltikov 
Pahlen and Kutuzov. Napoleon, then first consul, had 
already sent Durocq to St Petersburg with proposals to Paul 
that he should invade India. 

On the 12th of March a powerful English squadron 
sailed from Yarmouth to the Baltic under the command of 
Admirals Parker and Nelson, and there was every sign of a 
great war impending, when the news of the death of Paul 
startled the world. He was assassinated on the night of 
March 23, 1801. Napoleon vainly endeavoured to insinuate 
that this crime was committed at the instigation of the English. 
The fact was, that the fantastic government of Paul had 
become intolerable to his own subjects. The constant 
changes in his foreign policy were ruining the country, and 
the war with England was in the highest degree prejudicial to 
the trade of Russia. The details of the tragedy are but 
dimly known. On the night of the 23rd of March between 
eleven and twelve o'clock, after a protracted banquet, the 
conspirators entered the Mikhailovski palace where Paul had 
been for some time residing, and which he had caused to be 
carefully fortified. There the Tsar, having refused to abdi- 
cate in favour of his eldest son, Alexander, was strangled by 
Zubov, Pahlen and others. 

Sablukov, a young officer on duty at the time, has left us 
some details of what occurred ; though of the actual assassina- 
tion he saw nothing. It is said, however, to have been com- 
mitted by Benningsen, who, when the conspirators thought 
that their victim had escaped, found him crouching behind a 
screen. 

We are told that Alexander was filled with grief on hearing 
of the death of his father, he having only given his consent to 
the demand for his abdication. According to some writers, 



1801] THE REIGN OF PAUL 273 

the Empress, on hearing of her husband's death, was very 
anxious that the supreme authority should be entrusted to 
her. But the Russians could not but feel that they had 
had enough of German rule ; even though it had given them 
a Catherine. 

Prince Adam Czartoryski, the intimate friend of the 
Emperor Alexander, has described the circumstances in his 
memoirs. According to him, Alexander knew that his 
father would in a few hours be called upon to abdicate, and 
in a very excited state threw himself dressed upon his bed. 
This fact explains how it was that Sablukov saw him still 
dressed in the middle of the night. About one o'clock 
Alexander heard a knock at his door, and there saw Count 
Nicholas Zubov. The latter came up to the Grand Duke 
who was sitting on his bed, and said in a hoarse voice, " All 
is over." "What is over?" asked Alexander, in a state of 
astonishment. He had not the least idea of what had 
happened, but he perceived that Zubov, without offering 
any explanation, addressed him as "Sire," and "Your 
Majesty." This led him to question farther, and then the 
whole truth was communicated to him. When the Empress 
heard the news, she rushed out of her apartments with cries 
of anger and despair. On seeing some grenadiers, she said 
to them repeatedly : " As your Emperor has died a victim to 
treason, I am your Empress, I am alone your legitimate 
sovereign; follow me and protect me." Benningsen and 
Pahlen, who had brought a detachment of soldiers to the 
Palace, had great difficulty in getting her to return to her 
room. Prince Adam says that her appeals to the soldiers 
(which were perhaps rendered somewhat ridiculous by her 
German accent), produced no effect. The only person 
who retained self-possession, and was able to console Alex- 
ander, was his wife. His attitude with regard to his father's 
murderers was a very painful one. He knew that there was 
great sympathy with the objects of the conspiracy; and that 
if the conspirators had been brought to trial, they would 
certainly have been able to show that he was privy, at all 
s 



274 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isol 

events, to the deposition of his father. Hence it was, that 
although the Empress-Dowager was continually urging him to 
proceed against his father's murderers, it was not possible for 
him to do so by the ordinary legal means. 

In a subsequent letter to Addington, then Prime Minister, 
Nelson wrote : " We did not [then] know of the death of the 
Emperor Paul : my intention was to penetrate to Revel before 
that ice had appeared at Cronstadt, so as to destroy twelve 
Russian ships-of-war. Now I shall go there in the capacity 
of a friend." The idea of a Russian expedition against 
India had been mooted in 1791 in the reign of the Empress 
Catherine. 

The letter sent by the Russian Government to Lord 
Hawkesbury ran as follows: — 

"St Petersburg, 20 Mars 1801. 

" My Lord, — II a plu a l'Eternel de rappeler a Lui S. M. I. 
l'Empereur, Paul I., decede dans la nuit, du n ou 12 de 
ce mois, d'un coup d'apoplexie et de realiser les plus belles 
esperances du peuple russe en plagant sur le trone l'auguste 
Alexandre. Les relations usitees ayant ete interrompnes 
entre nos deux cours par un suite d'evenements inattendus, 
l'Empereur mon Maitre a juge bon de faire parvenir la notifi- 
cation de son avenement au trone a S. M. Britanique, eu 
m'ordonnant de l'addresser a Votre Excellence pour etre 
transmise a. sa destination. Je saisis cette occasion pour vous 
assurer de la haute consideration avec laquelle j'ai l'honneur 
d'etre, My Lord, de votre Excellence, le tres humble et tres 
obeissant serviteur. — Le Comte de Pahlen." 

The new Emperor received the oaths of fidelity from his 
subjects early in the morning in the Chapel of the Winter 
Palace, and it was noticed that he was in a state of great 
agitation. 

Such was the end of Paul, a very strange figure in European 
history, but a man of considerable shrewdness, and by no 
means wanting in heart. The Empress Maria survived till 
1828. 



1801] THE REIGN OF PAUL 275 

By her he had a numerous family, the eldest being the 
Tzar, Alexander. Then followed in order of seniority the re- 
maining three sons : Constantine, Viceroy of Poland; Nicholas, 
afterwards the Emperor ; and Michael. Of his daughters, 
Alexandra had been, as we have seen, originally betrothed to 
Gustavus IV. She afterwards gave her hand to Joseph Pala- 
tine of Hungary. Maria married the Duke of Sax-Weimar. 
Catherine married first, Prince George of Oldenburg, and 
secondly, William L, King of Wiirtemberg; and Anne married 
William II., King of Holland, and became the mother of the 
late sovereign, who, in many of his characteristics, showed 
himself a true grandson of Paul. 

We have already spoken of the dramatist, Kotzebue, and his 
journey into Siberian exile. 

His experiences were detailed by him in a volume which 
made no little sensation in Europe at the time. He owed his 
return to Paul having accidentally seen one of his dramatic 
pieces acted. The Emperor had been so much pleased with 
the sentiments contained in the piece that he ordered the poor 
dramatist to be summoned from his captivity, and afterwards 
treated him with great generosity. Another person who should 
be mentioned is the Lutheran pastor, Seidler, in the Baltic 
Provinces, who eked out his slender stipend by keeping a 
kind of circulating library. This unfortunate man, who had 
something of the simplicity of Dr Primrose in his character, 
carelessly allowed some seditious works to be mixed up with 
his books. Paul was very sensitive about such matters, and 
maintained a strict press censorship. At the time of his rage 
against the French, the printers had not dared to put on the 
title-page of a book that it was translated from the French : 
iz inostrannago from a foreign language was added. Seidler 
was denounced on account of his having some comparatively 
harmless books which Paul chose to consider seditious. He 
expiated his offence by banishment to Siberia, whence he was, 
however, recalled by Alexander. 



[1803 



CHAPTER XI 

THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 

/^\N coming to the throne, Alexander at once made peace 
^-^ with England and France. It was impossible for 
Russia to continue at variance with the former, with whom 
she had such abundant commercial relations. The new 
Emperor was only twenty-five years of age, and without being 
exactly a handsome man was by no means ill-favoured, as 
his father had been. He had considerable grace of manner, 
according to universal testimony; but we shall be better able 
to study his character as we deal with the events of his 
reign. 

Alexander felt uneasy at the constant aggressions of 
Napoleon. " Tua res agitur paries quum proximus ardet." 
He accordingly sent Novosiltsov, a minister who had great 
influence over him, to England with the view of negotiating 
a coalition against France. The British Cabinet agreed to 
furnish a subsidy of one million two hundred thousand pounds 
sterling for every hundred thousand men Russia put into the 
field. Thus was brought about the third coalition against 
Napoleon in the year 1803. The King of Prussia speedily 
joined it, swearing friendship with Alexander by the side of 
the coffin of Frederick the Great. 

Before, however, we launch into the intricacies of the great 
wars with Napoleon, something must be said of the annexa- 
tion of Georgia, that valuable and picturesque portion of the 
Russian dominions. There had been a kind of connection 
subsisting between Georgia and Russia as far back as the 
close of the fifteenth century. In the reign of Catherine 
General Todleben, the same who had occupied Berlin in the 
Seven Years' War, had to some extent driven the Turks out 

2 7 6 



1803] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 277 

of Georgia. But towards the close of the eighteenth century 
the country had suffered greatly at the hands of its Moslem 
neighbours, and more particularly the Persians. In 1793 the 
Shah, Aga Mohammed, had made a descent upon Tiflis and 
reduced it to a heap of ashes, and it may with perfect truth 
be said that if Russia had not interfered to protect her co- 
religionists they would have been wiped out from among the 
nations. Heraklius, the king, escaped, but died not long 
afterwards at a very advanced age ; and George, his son and 
successor, surrendered the country to Russia in 1799, and 
died the following year. The actual unification, therefore, 
of Georgia with Russia belongs to the reign of Paul, but 
the manifesto incorporating it as part of the empire was 
issued by Alexander on the 12th of September 1801. It is 
said that Maria, the queen of George, was not equally ready 
to surrender her claim, and that violence was resorted to to 
compel her acquiescence, but the authorities for this anecdote 
are not very convincing. Tiflis has risen from its ashes, and 
at the present time is one of the most charming cities in the 
Russian empire. Probably in the future it may become a 
place of much importance, lying as it does on one of the main 
roads to India. 

To return, however, to the third coalition against Napoleon ; 
by the Treaty of Potsdam, as it was called, the Prussians 
agreed to furnish eighty thousand men ; and it was not long 
before the coalition was joined by Austria. The latter had a 
grievance in the formation of the kingdom of Italy, and was 
not without hopes of getting back Lombardy. The King of 
Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus IV., who had been personally 
insulted by Napoleon, had conceived such a hatred of him 
that he was ready to attack him alone. When, however, it 
came to action, Prussia preferred neutrality, chiefly through 
the policy of General Haugwitz. This attitude on the part of 
Prussia was very injurious to the cause ; for the plan of cam- 
paign as settled by Austria allowed the French to concentrate 
their strength on one point. The Austrian generals, Prince 
Schwarzenberg and Baron Mack, supposed that Italy would be 



278 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1805 

the seat of war as before, and decided in axouncil of war in 
conjunction with the Russian general, Baron Wintzenrode, to 
divide the Austrian forces into three armies. Of these the 
principal force, under the command of the Archduke Charles, 
was to invade the kingdom of Italy ; another was to enter 
Switzerland from the Tyrol ; while the third, amounting to 
80,000 men, under the nominal command of the Archduke 
Ferdinand, with Mack at the head, was to remain in a 
defensive position in Bavaria, on the banks of the Lech, till 
the arrival of a Russian army of 90,000 men j when the united 
force was to march into Suabia, and from thence to Franche 
Comte, as soon as the Archduke Charles had defeated 
Napoleon in Italy. Bonaparte, however, by one decisive 
stroke broke up all these plans and annihilated the hopes of 
the court of Vienna. As soon as he heard of the outbreak of 
the war he moved his armies with incredible rapidity from 
France, Holland, and Hanover into the very heart of Austria, 
and to the rear of the main force. He crossed the Rhine 
without opposition, and secured to his interests Wiirtemberg, 
Baden and Bavaria. He then passed through the Prussian 
territories (the principality of Anspach) without paying any 
attention to the announced neutrality of the Cabinet of 
Berlin. Prussia was to reap but little from her selfish policy. 
The new Emperor of the French eventually concentrated 
all his forces on the banks of the Danube, in the neighbour- 
hood of Ulm, and in sight of Mack. He thus, by his rapid 
movements, prevented the union of the latter with the first 
Russian army which Kutuzov was bringing to his assistance. 
Considering how much he was outnumbered the only prudent 
course for Mack would have been to retreat betimes to the 
banks of the Inn, where already the Russian columns had 
appeared, and with the help of Kutuzov to await the attack 
of the enemy. Mack, however, remained on the banks of the 
Iller, and took no measures either to retreat or to fortify his 
position. Napoleon came on his rear, and having entirely 
surrounded him, began to cut to pieces the Austrian army, 
which was broken up into detachments ; half of it was de- 



1805] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 279 

stroyed by Ney, Soult and Davoust ; with the other half Mack 
retreated into Ulm, and after a feeble resistance surrendered 
on October 20, 1805. The garrison of Ulm, 30,000 strong, 
with sixty pieces of cannon, marched out of the gates of the 
fortress and laid down its arms. This immense army of 
prisoners took five hours in defiling before the conqueror. 

Having thus disposed of the Austrian army, Napoleon 
marched with all his forces against the Russians who, to the 
number of 50,000, were encamped on the Inn. His object 
was to destroy this army and then to take possession of 
Vienna. It was impossible for Kutuzov to repel the attack 
of a force three times as strong as his own ; still more to save 
Vienna, which was not prepared for a siege. He resolved, 
therefore, to retreat into Moravia, there to effect a union with 
another Russian army that had come from the banks of the 
Vistula under the command of Buxhovden. The Emperor 
Alexander now hastened to put himself at the head of the 
Russian army which was concentrated at Olmiitz. The plan 
of Kutuzov was to turn the right wing of the French in order 
to drive them into the mountains of Bohemia, and then to 
cut off their communication with Vienna. Napoleon pene- 
trated this design; on the 2nd of December 1805 the great 
battle of Austerlitz was fought. Both Emperors (those of 
Russia and Germany) were present at the battle, and also the 
Grand Duke Constantine. On the dawn of the 2nd of De- 
cember, a cold and misty morning, Buxhovden left the heights 
where he was posted with the division of Kinmeyer and the 
corps of Dokhtorov, and took possession of Telnitz. Langeron 
occupied the Castle Sokolnitzki. At eight o'clock when the 
mist began to clear off and a bright sun appeared, " the sun 
of Austerlitz," Napoleon saw with delight that the allies had 
neglected to occupy the village of Pratzen, the most im- 
portant point of the position. He immediately appreciated 
their mistake, and ordered a general attack. Eventually the 
centre of the allies was broken, and while Soult poured a 
deadly fire from the heights of Pratzen, Lannes, supported 
by Murat, drove Bagration back to his former position, and 



280 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1805 

Davoust inflicted severe injur)' on the left wing. Bukshovden, 
forced to retreat beyond Citava, left all his artillery on the 
bridge and retired in disorder ; the division of Langeron was 
driven from Sokolnitzki to the Lake of Sachau where 500 
men perished under the ice ; the two brigades of Przibi- 
shevski, surrounded at the Sokolnitzki Castle, were cut to 
pieces after a stubborn contest. Only Dokhtorov retreated 
in good order across the dike of the Sachau Lake. Late in 
the evening the allies collected together about Miskovits, and 
at midnight entered Hungarian territory. They had lost 
more than 20,000 men and 30 flags, with the greater part 
of their artillery. The loss on the French side amounted to 
about half that number. 

The Russians were not impeded in their homeward march. 
Napoleon, desirous of gaining the goodwill of Alexander, not 
only ordered his retreat to be respected, but also sent back 
Prince Repnin and all the men of the Imperial Guard who 
had been taken prisoners at Austerlitz. 

The victory was followed by the conclusion of what is 
known as the Peace of Pressburg, under the conditions of 
which Austria made great concessions to her conqueror. 
About this time Prussia also concluded a discreditable treaty 
with Napoleon, ceding some of her territory to him in 
exchange for Hanover. 

The only gleam of sunshine for the allies amidst their 
general discomfiture was the great battle of Trafalgar (October 
21, 1805), in which Nelson almost annihilated the combined 
French and Spanish fleets. The French marine never re- 
covered from this blow during the war. The loss to England 
of her greatest sailor was irremediable, and it was followed 
by the death of Pitt, July 23rd, 1806. In the same year a 
fourth coalition was formed against Napoleon, which re- 
sulted in the great battle of Jena (October 14th), where, 
however, Russia was not represented. 

In the following year the Russian general suffered a so- 
called defeat at Eylau, but the French losses were so great 
that they could hardly look upon the result as a victory. 



1807] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 281 

The Russians admitted having lost 30,000 killed and 
wounded, but the loss on the French side appears to have 
been no less. On June the 14th of the same year was 
fought the battle of Friedland, in which Russia was said to 
have lost from fifteen to twenty thousand men. Benningsen, 
however, was not very closely pursued : he passed the 
Niemen on the 19th, burning the bridge behind him, and 
immediately afterwards Napoleon arrived at Tilsit. 

It cannot be wondered at that Alexander was willing to 
listen to terms of peace. Prussia was practically ruined, 
Austria mutilated, and but little inclined to attempt any fresh 
adventures. He was also annoyed with England, which had 
just refused him a loan. Accordingly, when a truce had 
been signed (June 22), Prince Lobanov arrived at Tilsit with 
proposals for an interview between his emperor and Napoleon. 
This took place on June 25th on a raft moored in the middle 
of the Niemen, and the Treaty of Tilsit was concluded (July 
7, 1807). The terms of this treaty only affected Russian 
possessions to a small extent. At the intercession of Alex- 
ander, Frederick William III. was allowed to keep his crown, 
though he was deprived of nearly half his kingdom. He was 
compelled to give up all his territories between the Elbe and 
the Rhine ; to cede the circle of Cottbus in Lusatia to the 
King of Saxony ; and to abandon all his Polish possessions, 
including Danzig, with the exception of Warmia or Erme- 
land and a part of the district of Netze. All the rest of 
Prussian Poland, under the style of Grand Duchy of Warsaw, 
was to be tranferred to the King of Saxony ; and the latter, in 
order to connect his possessions, was to have a military road 
through the Prussian territories. Danzig, with a territory of 
ten leagues in circumference, was to be independent under 
the protection of Prussia and Saxony. The department of 
Bialystok, formerly attached to Prussia, was to be made over 
to Russia. The penalty paid by Prussia was indeed severe, 
but it was the result, to a great extent, of her selfish and 
vacillating policy. 

A secret treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, was 



282 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i808 

now concluded between France and Russia, the two powers 
aimed at being England and Turkey. Russia was to address 
an ultimatum to England, which, if neglected, was to be 
followed by a declaration of war on the part of Russia before 
the 1 st of December. Another treaty is said to have been 
also made by which these powers were to divide the world 
between them ; among other territories Turkey was to be 
assigned to Russia. 

Meanwhile an order of the British Government had de- 
clared all the ports of the French Empire blockaded from 
Brest to the Elbe. On November 21st, 1806, Napoleon had 
issued his celebrated Berlin decree, and in the following 
spring Copenhagen was bombarded by the English, and 
Russia made her declaration of war, alleging want of good 
faith on the part of England. This attempt on the part of 
Alexander to enforce the Berlin decree of Napoleon was very 
detrimental to the interests of his own country. She was 
the great producer of raw material, and required, above all 
things, the markets for her products which England afforded 
her. Alexander proclaimed anew the armed neutrality, and 
declared that he would enter into no dealings with England 
till the Danes had received compensation. This was followed 
up by an embargo being laid upon all English vessels in 
Russian ports. Thus after having suffered great humiliation 
at the hands of Napoleon did Russia turn against England, 
her natural friend. All efforts, however, of Alexander to 
make the King of Sweden close his ports against the English 
were ineffectual. He still allowed them to use Goteborg as 
a free port. But the Russians found in this a pretext for 
declaring war against Sweden and annexing the long-coveted 
Finland. Gustavus IV. was a man of weak character, and 
though he must have known that the Russians meditated an 
attack on his territory, he seems to have made no effort 
whatever to resist them. On the contrary, just before their 
arrival he had gone off with an army to Norway. The war 
began in 1808. 

The Swedish troops, scattered in small detachments over 



1809] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 283 

the whole surface of Finland, remained quietly in their winter 
quarters, and did not begin to concentrate until the Russians 
had passed the frontier. The king appointed Count Klingspor 
the chief commander of the Finnish army, and gave him 
orders to collect the scattered regiments. Buxhovden ap- 
peared on the scene with 20,000 men, to be followed by 
40,000 more. The troops under Klingspor and Adlerkreuz 
now took the field. The Swedes were at first victorious in 
one or two petty engagements, but lost what they had gained 
by the battle of Oravais on September 14 and the defeat of 
Lokalaks on the 18th. General Knorring, who had crossed 
the Gulf of Bothnia on the ice with 25,000 Russians, took 
possession of the Aland islands and granted the Swedes a 
cessation of hostilities so that terms of peace might be 
arranged. 

As the result, Sweden surrendered Finland with the whole 
of East Bothnia and a part of West Bothnia, lying eastward 
of the river Torneo. This cession of territory was guaranteed 
by the treaty of Frederiksham, September 17, 1809. Treason 
on the part of some of the officers in high command is known 
to have occurred, especially in the surrender of Sveaborg, the 
fortified outpost of Helsingfors. Sweden thus lost a popula- 
tion of 900,000 souls. The Grand Duchy had been evacuated 
by the Swedish and Finnish troops towards the close of the 
year 1808. 

A Finnish deputation, elected by the nobility, the clergy, 
the burgesses, and the peasantry, the four Swedish " Estates," 
assembled at St Petersburg in November 1808. The Emperor 
was anxious to consult them on the condition of the country. 
They declared to him in solemn audience that this could only 
be done in a full meeting of the diet. To this the Emperor 
assented, and by a decree of February 1, 1809, the Estates 
were summoned to assemble at Borga. The Emperor was 
present at the opening of this diet, and signed a declaration 
to the effect that he confirmed and ratified the religion and 
fundamental laws of the land, and that each class in the 
country was to continue to enjoy the privileges it had already 



284 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i809 

had under the constitution. Changes, however, had to be 
introduced to a certain extent, because the supreme tribunal 
and the offices of the central government had up to that time 
been at Stockholm. The former taxes were continued, with 
the exception of some extraordinary imposts from which the 
Emperor desired the people to be exempt. The revenues of 
the Grand Duchy were to be employed solely for the wants of 
the country itself, and thus the independence of Finland's 
budget was secured. Alexander at the same time conceded 
that there should be no compulsory recruiting in Finland. 

The line of frontier between Russia and Finland remained 
at first as it had been fixed in 1743 between Russia and 
Sweden ; but the Emperor, for the sake of unity, generously 
united to the Duchy the province of Viborg, which had been 
acquired in the time of Peter the Great. The statutes of the 
State Council were sanctioned on August 18, 1809. For 
some time the council sat at Abo, but in 1819 removed to 
Helsingfors, which has since been considered the capital of 
the country. By the statute of 1809, the Governor-General 
was to preside at the Council. The diet was not convoked 
again in the time of Alexander, nor indeed at all during the 
reign of Nicholas. But in the time of Alexander III. a law 
was passed by which it was enacted that the diet should be 
convoked periodically. 

We have somewhat anticipated matters by mentioning 
these facts, but in reality Finland has continued in a very 
prosperous condition till the unfortunate troubles of the 
present day, which are beyond the purview of the present 
work. One interesting fact may be dwelt upon, the 
development of the Finnish language. This, from the time 
of the Russian occupation, has been very great. Lonnrot 
discovered the fragments of the Kalevala, which he so dexter- 
ously pieced together, and the professors at Helsingfors were 
allowed to deliver their lectures in Finnish. 

Before the signing of the treaty of Frederikshamn, Gustavus 
IV. had been deposed. He ended his life as a private indi- 
vidual ; and Bernadotte, Prince of Monte Corvo, one of 



1810] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 285 

Napoleon's generals, founded a new dynasty, which has lasted 
till the present day. He ascended the throne under the 
name of Charles John. England had partially assisted the 
Swedes against the Russians by blocking some of the vessels 
of the latter in the ports of Esthonia. Another Russian fleet, 
under Admiral Seniavin, which sailed to Portugal to co- 
operate with the French against the English, was obliged to 
surrender to Admiral Cotton, but it was afterwards restored to 
Russia. 

The annexation of Georgia had brought Russia into 
collision with Persia, and this proved disastrous for the 
latter power, in that she was compelled to surrender Derbent 
and the Province of Shirvan. However, by September 1st, 
1 8 10, the Persians had ceased to be troublesome. Turkey 
about this time was in one of its chronic states of apparent 
dissolution. The authority of the Sultan was set at defiance 
by his dependents. Pasvan Oglu was in rebellion at Viddin, 
and Ali Pasha at Janina. Moreover, a serious rebellion was on 
foot in Serbia led by Tsrni (Black) George, who was really 
laying the foundations of the emancipation of that country 
from Ottoman rule. Napoleon had been intriguing with the 
Turks whom he wished to force into a war with Russia, for 
he foresaw that the treaty of Tilsit was fast becoming waste- 
paper. The ultimate effect of the quarrel between Turkey 
and Russia was the cession by the former power of Bess- 
arabia, by which the Russian dominions were extended to 
the Pruth. 

All things were now tending to the great quarrel between 
Napoleon and Alexander. During the year 18 10 Napoleon 
had pushed his Berlin decree to the utmost, Still the two 
emperors affected extreme courtesies to each other : Alex- 
ander sent malachite vases, and Napoleon had the Russian 
Emperor's bust manufactured in porcelain at Sevres. At the 
celebrated meeting at Erfurt, when Talma, the actor, pro- 
nounced the line, "L'amitie d'un grand homme est un 
bienfait des dieux," (and) Alexander, pressing the hand of 
Napoleon, declared that he had never felt it so much as at 



286 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isio 

that time. In fact more than courtly deception prevailed, 
and when we find Napoleon afterwards speaking of Alexander 
as a man full of duplicity and false as a Greek of the 
Byzantine period, we may be sure that he was secretly 
lamenting the failure of his own exaggerated flattery and 
carefully prepared traps. Meanwhile the grovelling adula- 
tion of the miserable German princelings formed a fitting 
chorus. There was, however, soon to be a break-up of this 
unreal friendship. Alexander, by a ukaze of the 31st of 
December 1810, allowed the importation of colonial products 
into Russia under a neutral flag, and so interfered with the 
continental blockade and inflicted a mortal blow upon the 
treaty of Tilsit. Russian commerce was practically ruined, 
and the coinage greatly depreciated. Moreover, Russia did 
not relish the creation of the duchy of Warsaw — a resuscita- 
tion of Poland and a formal menace to her ; nor did she like 
the intrigues which were going on between the French and 
the Poles. 

But she had first to settle with Turkey. The Russian 
armies were commanded by Prozorovski, and after his death 
by Bagration, of whom we shall hear a great deal more in 
the future. All the fortresses on the Danube fell into their 
hands, with the exception of Giurgevo. In 18 10 these 
successes were continued, though not unalloyed in that 
failure attended the Russian endeavours to take the strongly 
fortified towns of Varna, Shumla and Rustchuk. At these 
places there were English officers in the service of the Turks, 
and this fact is the more significant since it must have been 
about this time that the English mercenary captains turned 
their attention from the service of Russia to that of Turkey. 
The war was eventually brought to an end by Kutuzov who 
defeated the Turks at Rustchuk, and drove the Grand Vizier 
across the Danube which he had rashly crossed. Count St 
Priest also captured the Turkish flotilla. The Russians, how- 
ever, had experienced considerable losses during the campaign, 
and perceiving, no doubt, that their great struggle with France 
could not be much longer delayed, they were the more in- 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 287 

clined to peace. The Turks also were exhausted, and so it 
came to pass that by the agency of Kutuzov the treaty of 
Bukharest was signed on May 28th, 1812. The chief point 
conceded by the Turks was that the Pruth should for the 
future separate Russian and Turkish territory. There were, 
however, other matters which call for mention seeing that 
they figure prominently in the negotiations concerning the 
Crimean War. The Porte abandoned to Russia a third 
part of Moldavia together with the fortresses of Khoczim 
(Khotin), and Bender (two very historical places in connec- 
tion with the peoples of these regions) ; to this was added 
the whole of Bessarabia with Izmail and Kilia. Some 
concessions were made to the Serbs, who were now begin- 
ning to be heard of after a bondage of five centuries. Finally, 
the Porte was to induce Persia to conclude a treaty; that 
country having again shown itself inclined to war at the 
instigation of the English. The quarrel with Turkey having 
been arranged, Alexander now began to feel that he could 
embark upon the great war which menaced him. Napoleon 
for nearly a year and a half, for objects which no one 
could exactly divine, had been massing troops on the 
Russian frontiers, especially the river Niemen. It was con- 
jectured that these movements were directed against Russia. 

Napoleon, who had fortified Danzig, now declared war, 
and Alexander made preparations to meet him. He had dis- 
tributed his forces as follows : 90,000 men under the orders of 
Barclay de Tolly, without including Platov's Cossacks, occu- 
pied the line of the Niemen, and formed the First Army of the 
West. 

Michael Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly was descended from 
an old Scottish family which had settled in Livonia. He was 
born in the year 1761. He figured in the Turkish wars at 
Ochakov, and other places; in 1790 he was in Sweden; in 
1794 in Poland; and afterwards in Finland. 

The Second Army of the West, 60,000 strong, under Prince 
Bagration, guarded the frontier of the Duchy of Warsaw. 
Lower down, about 45,000 men, commanded by General 



288 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

Tormasov, formed the Third Army of the West. This force 
was intended to act as a reserve for the two first, and to watch 
the movements of the Austrian contingent in Galicia, which 
was nominally co-operating with Napoleon. Finally, at the 
two extremities of the country, the Army of Finland, under the 
command of Count Wittgenstein, and the Army of Moldavia, 
under the orders of Chichagov completed the system of 
defence. The centre of operations, and the quarters-general 
of the Emperor, were at Vilna. Alexander made his entry 
into the town on April 16, 18 r 2, on horseback, accompanied 
by his generals and ministers. 

After some demands made by both parties had been re- 
jected, the war finally began. Napoleon raised the garrison of 
Danzig to 20,000, and Hamburg was occupied by the corps 
of Davoust, under the pretext that the king of Sweden had 
connived at the introduction of English goods and Colonial 
produce. Napoleon, having in vain endeavoured to induce 
Turkey to begin another war with Russia, then set out on his 
great expedition. It was from his quarters^general at Vilko- 
viski in Russian Poland, on June 22, 18 12, that he definitely 
declared war. Various statements have been made about the 
number of men Napoleon had with him. It was probably 
between 500,000 and 600,000 men. The bulk of the army 
really consisted of Germans, who were skilfully distributed 
among the Frenchmen, so that they should not know their 
own numbers. There are supposed to have been upwards of 
120,000 Germans at least. There were also several thousand 
Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese forced into the service, 
whom their royal masters had sent to perish amid the Russian 
snows, and to carry destruction to a people with whom they 
had no conceivable quarrel. 

But carefully dispersed among the various regiments were 
also 60,000 Poles, who were burning with hatred of Russia, 
and eager to restore their fallen country. The Russians 
could bring against this enormous host about 372,000 men 
all told, but these were all animated with extraordinary fanati- 
cism against the invader of their sacred country, and their 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 289 

patriotism was further stimulated by the proclamation of the 
Tzar. On his way to Russia, Napoleon held a grand levee at 
Dresden, attended by his vassal monarchs. Here met him 
the Emperor and Empress of Austria, and the Kings of Prussia 
and Saxony. 

Besides the Poles he actually had in his army, he could also 
count upon 100,000 more ready to raise the standard of 
Polish independence, and do what they could to hamper the 
Russians. 

On the 24th of June the invader crossed the Niemen 
between Kovno and Grodno. This was one of the few available 
places at which the country could be invaded, owing to the 
number of marshes and the bad roads which existed generally 
throughout Russia, and which could not be traversed in wet 
weather. The French were amazed that they met with no 
resistance. Some sappers were the first to cross in a boat. 
They reached the bank and landed. A Cossack officer com- 
manding a patrol came up to them and asked who they were? 
" French," they replied. " What do you want, and why do 
you come to Russia? " A sapper answered rudely, " To make 
war upon you ; to take Vilna, and deliver Poland." The 
Cossack then went ofT into a thicket, and the three soldiers 
discharged their pieces after him. 

Napoleon then, with the greater part of his forces, moved 
to Vilna against Barclay de Tolly, sending at the same time 
his brother, Jerome, King of Westphalia, against Bagration. 
His idea was by rapid manoeuvres to separate the Russian 
armies and so destroy them in detail. In this he nearly suc- 
ceeded, and the Russian plan of operations, which had been 
devised by the Prussian general, Pfuhl, was completely 
upset. Napoleon was to be resisted on the frontiers of the 
empire. Barclay de Tolly was to be firmly entrenched in a 
fortified camp on the Dvina at Drissa, a place which often 
figures in Russian history, and there to keep in check the 
main army of the invader, while Bagration with Tormasov 
and Chichagov were to act on his flank and rear. In 
furtherance of this plan, Barclay de Tolly concentrated his 

T 



290 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [wis 

corps in the neighbourhood of Vilna. and moved northward 
in order to occupy his fortified camp at Drissa. Bagration 
took up his quarters at Slonim. This was quite in accord 
with the wishes of Napoleon. The chief Russian armies 
were separated from each other more than 300 versts. 
Between them was Marshal Davoust, who occupied Minsk 
with a strong force. It thus became evident, if there had 
been any doubt about it previously, that the Russian generals 
were not men of great tactical capacity. It was the vigorous 
stuff of which the Russian soldier is made and the severity of 
the climate which saved the country. 

Now, however, the immeasurable superiority of Napoleon's 
forces made it doubtful whether he could be stopped on the 
Dvina ; the more so as the fortifications appeared to be com- 
pletely untrustworthy. The plan was therefore changed. It 
was resolved under any circumstances to unite the western 
armies, and not until that had been done to venture on an 
engagement. Barclay de Tolly moved higher up the Dvina 
to Vitebsk, and ordered Bagration to join him quickly. 
Prince Wittgenstein was left with one corps to protect Pskov 
and Novgorod : and this corps had some success against the 
French detachments. 

Alexander now issued a proclamation calling to arms the 
whole Russian people, in consequence of the great crisis in 
which the country found itself. Moscow answered by a 
unanimous readiness to sacrifice everything for Tsar and 
country ; the nobility bound themselves to furnish regi- 
ments ; the merchants did not spare their treasures ; the 
people only asked for arms to go against the enemy. 

The other cities of the empire followed the example of 
Moscow with such zeal that the Emperor considered it suffi- 
cient to form a militia in seventeen governments only, those, 
namely, which were nearest to the theatre of the war. In 
one month more than 200,000 men had been armed at the 
expense of the nobility and merchants, and were ready to die 
for their country. 

Directly after crossing the Niemen the French occupied 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 291 

Kovno, and on the following day (June 27th) their light cavalry 
was within ten leagues of Vilna. The Russians now fell back 
behind the Vilia, after burning the bridge and their stores. 
A deputation of the principal inhabitants of Vilna delivered 
to Napoleon the keys of the town. 

At first the Russians had intended to dispute the passage 
of the Niemen, but Barclay de Tolly is said to have con- 
vinced the Emperor that this would be impossible in the face 
of such a large army as the invader possessed. 

On the 25th of June Alexander had issued an address to 
his subjects from Vilna. It was simple and dignified, and 
concluded with the following words : "It is unnecessary for 
me to recall to the minds of the generals, the officers, or the 
soldiers, their duty and their bravery. The blood of the 
valiant Slavs flows in their veins. Soldiers, you defend your 
religion, your country, and your liberty ! I am with you. 
God is against the aggressor." 

The whole of the French army was now concentrated near 
Vilna, and the second Russian corps, under General Bagovut, 
had effected a retreat across the Dvina. The Polish Uhlans 
of the 8th Regiment, commanded by Prince Radziwill, entered 
Vilna first. The town was large and populous, and it was 
calculated that the army would get abundant supplies. More- 
over, it was full of people well affected to the French, and 
had indeed only been for a short time part of the Russian 
dominions. 

The attitude of the Polish population at this time has 
been well described in the Pan Tadeusz of Mickiewicz. 
They considered that the hour of their deliverance had come, 
and looked upon Napoleon as the Messiah. 

The bad roads of the country now began to tell terribly 
upon the horses, and the invader seems to have had a fore- 
taste of what he was to suffer later. The French now found 
the country before them deserted ; and this was the case more 
and more as they passed out of territory which had till quite 
recently been Polish, and, therefore, contained many secret 
sympathisers. Napoleon, in a bombastic address to the 



292 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [ism 

Poles, declared that he re-established the independence of 
the country. He knew that there were many soldiers of 
Polish nationality in the Russian ranks, and accordingly 
summoned them to leave the service of their oppressors. 
The address concluded thus : " Hasten and range yourselves 
under the eagles of the Jagiellos, the Casimirs, and the 
Sobieskis. Your country requires it of you. Honour and 
religion equally command it." The standard of Lithuania, 
representing a galloping horse, was now seen floating on the 
walls of Vilna, and those who had dreamt of a restored 
Poland thought their dream had come true. 

The heads of the University waited on Napoleon. This 
had been founded by Stephen Bathory in the sixteenth 
century as a kind of Roman Catholic wedge into Orthodox 
and Protestant Lithuania. Napoleon reorganised the civil 
administration of the town, which had been deranged owing 
to the departure of the chief functionaries. But his real 
desire was to witness a levy of the Lithuanians e?i ?nasse. 
He also adopted the favourite device of invaders, that of 
inducing the peasants to rise against their masters. These 
plans, however, did not lead to any important results. The 
department of Vilna was created, and the conquered territory 
was divided into eleven subordinate districts. The country, 
however, was pillaged by the soldiers, and the peasants fled 
into the woods. The French were horrified at the continual 
appearance of Jews of the most abject demeanour, and 
clothed in the filthiest rags, who abandoned themselves to 
all kinds of petty forms of extortion. Labaume tells us that* 
when the sous-prefet of Nowy Troki came from Vilna to take 
possession of his department he was stopped by the French 
troops and plundered of everything. Even his own escort 
robbed him of his provisions and clothes. At length he 
arrived on foot in a condition so wretched that everyone 
regarded as a spy the man who was destined to be the first 
French administrator. This serves to indicate what a horde 
of brigands the French were letting loose upon the unhappy 
country. 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 293 

A great diet had been summoned at Warsaw for June 28th, 
and the idea proposed was to offer the crown of Poland to 
the King of Saxony. A committee was formed to consider 
the following three proposals : (1) the union with the new 
kingdom of Poland of all the provinces which she had lost 
in earlier times, especially the Russian-speaking portions of 
Lithuania ; (2) the recall of the Poles from the Russian 
service ; and (3) the despatch of a deputation to Napoleon, 
entreating him to extend to them his protection. This 
deputation reached Napoleon at Vilna the night before his 
departure, The duplicity and insincerity of the man soon 
became transparent. He had no real love for popular 
assemblies or constitutional rights, however much he might 
use such expressions about a powerful enemy whose rule he 
wished to break up. He would make no definite promises, 
but on the contrary demanded more sacrifices from them. 
Thus he required that the provinces which Russia had taken 
from Poland should declare against the former country before 
he entered them. Moreover Galicia was still to belong to 
Austria, because he had guaranteed the integrity of her 
dominions. 

A detachment of the French army under Murat now tried 
to intercept Platov, the hetman of the Cossacks, before he 
could join the main Russian army, but failed to do so on 
account of the badness of the roads. The legs of a great 
many horses were broken in the morasses which continually 
obstructed the path of the French General. At length he 
arrived at Smorgoni, the inhabitants of which proved to 
consist chiefly of Jews. 

About this time the Russian authorities issued a declara- 
tion which was extensively circulated on the banks of the 
Dvina, remonstrating with the French for the invasion, and 
plainly telling them that they would only be drawn further 
and further into the country to their ruin. After evacuating 
Vilna the Russians retired to Vitebsk, and from thence to 
Smolensk. After three days' desperate fighting, the latter 
place, where troops to the number of 120,000 had been con- 



294 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

centrated, was set on fire and, on the approach of Napoleon, 
evacuated. According to the accounts of eye witnesses, 
Smolensk presented a ghastly spectacle. Every street, 
every square was covered with the bodies of the Russians, 
dead or dying. The cathedral became the refuge of those 
who had escaped the flames. Labaume describes the entry 
of the French army into the town to the sound of war-like 
music. It was voe vidis indeed. On the road from Smolensk 
the enemy found only the ruins of villages burnt by the in- 
habitants themselves, who had concealed themselves in the 
forests after committing to the flames all that they could not 
take with them. The French marched without guides and 
often lost their way. The war was fast assuming the same 
characteristics as had marked that at the time of the expedi- 
tion of Charles XII. a hundred years previously. The only 
difference was that Peter had acted according to plans 
sketched out beforehand with the complete conviction of 
the necessity of avoiding a decisive battle till the enemy, who 
were continually being drawn further and further into the 
devastated country, should be thoroughly weakened. Peter 
spared neither towns nor villages, setting them on fire in- 
discriminately, and giving strict orders to the inhabitants to 
retire into the forest. Charles had everywhere found ashes, 
ruins, and unpeopled wastes ; Napoleon found the same 
owing to the self-sacrifice of the Russian people who, without 
being in any way instigated to it, did all they could to impede 
the enemy. 

But the continued retreat of Barclay de Tolly before the 
French, and the fact that he seemed to have no settled plan, 
had the effect of making him unpopular, and the discontent 
soon became universal, growing in intensity as he abandoned 
city after city. If we are to believe the words of Pushkin 
even his foreign name contributed to this, he being de- 
scended from a Scotch soldier of fortune who had emigrated 
to Livonia. At length the Russian army, now encamped at 
Tsarevo Zaimistche, learned that they were to have a new 
commander. 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 295 

On the 29th of August Kutuzov made his appearance, a 
veteran who had been tried in many previous battles and was 
looked upon by the Russians as almost their last hope. He 
was, however, inferior as a general to Barclay. Kutuzov 
at once declared that the Russian army should retreat no 
further. The French were now within four days' march of 
Moscow, and with a view to its defence, he looked out for 
a strong position betweeen Gzhatsk and Mozhaisk, where a 
decisive blow might, he thought, be struck. This he found 
on the little river Moskva, near Borodino. 

On ~ the 5th of September Murat attacked the rear-guard 
of the Russians under the command of Konovnitsin at the 
Kolotski Monastery, and forced them to retreat to Borodino. 

Before daybreak on the 7th of September the whole of 
the French forces were paraded, and every captain read out 
to his company the following proclamation : Soldiers ! this 
is the battle so much desired by you. The victory depends 
on yourselves. A victory is now necessary to us. It will 
give us abundance of all we wish — good winter quarters and 
a prompt return to our country. Behave as you behaved at 
Austerlitz, at Friedland, at Vitebsk, at Smolensk, and let the 
latest posterity recount with pride your conduct on this day. 
Let them say of each one of you : he was at the great battle 
under the walls of Moscow. 

The Russians had taken up an admirable defensive position, 
and had thrown up vast earthworks. Both sides had spent 
the previous evening in careful preparations. Napoleon is 
said to have thought that the Russians would retreat during 
the night. On the morning of the battle he personally visited 
every regiment. Kutuzov, preceded by an icon which had 
been rescued from Smolensk, harangued his soldiers but in 
very different language from that used by the French generals. 
Suddenly a radiant sun burst through the thick fog, where- 
upon Napoleon is said to have exclaimed : " This is the sun of 
Austerlitz ! " All was now ready ; the armies were in sight of 
each other ; the gunners at their posts. The signal for action, 
which seems to have been given about six o'clock, although 



296 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

accounts vary a great deal, was the firing of a cannon from 
the principal French battery. The Russians had a strong 
position, though their earthworks had been hastily con- 
structed. Their chief defences consisted of one great re- 
doubt and three smaller ones. The village of Borodino had 
already been set on fire. The large redoubt from which the 
Russians kept up a murderous fire was at length captured, 
though not without a terrible struggle, and the guns were 
turned upon the Russians themselves. The smaller works 
were taken and retaken. Murat and his staff took posses- 
sion of the big redoubt and cut down all the artillerymen. 
Kutuzov then ordered the Russian cuirassiers to advance 
and the fight waxed more fierce than ever. The interior 
of the redoubt presented a horrible spectacle, corpses being 
piled on corpses. Labaume describes how he saw the body 
of a Russian gunner decorated with crosses. In one hand 
he held a broken sword and with the other firmly grasped 
the carriage of the gun which he had been serving. 

All the Russian soldiers in the redoubt had chosen death 
in preference to surrender. The general who commanded 
them had sworn to die at his post, and seeing all his comrades 
dead, tried to throw himself upon the Frenchmen's swords. 
The latter, however, in view of the honour of capturing so 
valiant a prisoner, resolved to spare him, and Murat ordered 
him to be conducted to the Emperor. 

Murat and Eugene Beauharnais, the Viceroy as he was 
called, were conspicuous for bravery, the latter even standing 
at one time on the parapet of the great redoubt. Napoleon 
is said to have been on foot during the battle, and to have 
been suffering from a very bad cold. He remained in the 
rear of the centre and directed some very dashing manoeuvres, 
including the despatch of the Westphalians and Poles to 
support Ney in his attempt to turn the Russian position : 
these were, however, repulsed with great loss. 

The Russians kept up a determined fire till nightfall, and 
this was so well directed, that, according to Labaume, the 
legion of the Vistula, commanded by General Claparede, was 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 297 

forced to kneel down behind the grand redoubt. In this 
uncomfortable position they remained for more than an 
hour. The Russian fire at length slackened, only a few 
shots being heard at intervals, until the silence of the last 
redoubt gave the French reason to believe that the Russians 
were preparing to retire on the road to Mozhaisk. The 
weather, which had been very fine during the day, became 
cold and damp towards evening. Some of the corps of the 
French army were without food, and the want of firewood 
left them exposed to all the rigours of a Russian autumn ; it 

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was a foretaste of what they were destined to suffer before 
leaving Russian territory. 

The next day (September 8th) very early in the morning, 
the French returned to the field. They found, as they had 
surmised, that the Russians had retreated during the night. 
The latter, having lost two of their redoubts, saw that their 
position was no longer tenable. The field was strewn with 
heaps of slain, and there are not wanting authorities who 
have not hesitated to characterise the battle of Borodino 
as the most sanguinary since the invention of gunpowder. 
Various computations have been made as to the number 
of slain. Napoleon had indeed gained a Pyrrhic victory; 



298 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1821 

he is calculated to have lost more than 30,000 men, and 
the Russians 40,000. Many important generals fell on 
both sides. Amongst the Russians killed were the brothers 
Tutchkov and Count Kutaisov, the favourite of Paul, who 
here found a grave more honourable than his life had been. 
Bagration, who was in command of one of the three divisions 
of defence, was severely wounded. He was carried off the 
field, and expired on the 24th of September, saying that he 
died happy if no peace had been made with the invader. 

Many eloquent descriptions have been given of the terrible 
scenes presented by the battlefield. Space does not admit of 
quotation, but the splendid genius of Tolstoi and Verestchagin 
has recorded them in their respective manner for posterity. 
As the French army pursued the retreating Russians within 
half a league of the village of Krasnoe they found the road 
defended by four other great redoubts, in the form of a 
square. 

The Russians had retired quickly, carrying off the wounded, 
and their pursuers had not fully perceived their movements. 
At Mozhaisk, about six versts from Borodino, the French 
came upon a Russian camp, where a number of the wounded 
had been left. The defence of this post had been entrusted 
to the Cossacks and their hetman Platov. These had formed 
the rearguard of the army. Four guns had been given to 
Platov, but in front of the little town of Mozhaisk which 
had been reduced to ruins, it was impossible for him to 
keep the French at bay for the appointed time, four hours, 
however advantageously he was conditioned in other re- 
spects. Platov accordingly retreated, and for doing so was 
degraded by Kutuzov till the end of the war. But even 
in his lower rank he continued to do his duty bravely, and 
the Emperor afterwards made him a count. Platov, who 
was a Cossack of the old school, was deeply hurt by the way 
in which the tchinovniks or officials treated him in Moscow. 
His nephew tells us that in his old age he showed a marked 
dislike for official papers ; the sight of them threw him 
into a passion, and he could hardly be induced to sign any. 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 299 

If any sealed packets came into his hands he always put them 
in a particular room under lock and key. From this room 
more than two cartloads, which had never been opened, 
were carried away after his death. He seems to have had 
a vague, but noc ill-founded idea, that these papers might 
contain indictments against himself. 

Kutuzov now saw all his tactics paralysed. Even up to 
five o'clock on the fatal day of Borodino it had seemed that 
victory might eventually rest with him. He actually issued 
orders for fighting on the following day. But about eleven 
o'clock the same night he perceived that his losses were too 
great. Napoleon remained master of the field, though greatly 
taken aback by the stubborn resistance of the Russians. He 
did not conceal his disappointment at the result of the battle, 
though it was now evident that nothing could save Moscow. 

Kutuzov and the chief generals of the Russian army has- 
tened to the ancient city. On the slope of the Poklonnaya 
hills, in view of Moscow, at the village of Fili, a very important 
council was held in a peasant's cottage. Were the Russians 
to defend Moscow, or to surrender it to the invader without 
a battle? The surrounding country is uneven, intersected 
by rivers, and unsuited for fighting. It had no fortified walls 
and no earthworks, and this explains why it was so often the 
prey of the Tatar. Moreover, after such great losses it 
would be the wildest folly to attempt a second Borodino. 
In addition to this the French army was approaching Moscow 
with great rapidity, their average rate being twenty versts in 
twenty-four hours. If the Russians were again defeated there 
was no possibility of retreat, because of the interposing river 
Moskva ; and the army would consequently be annihilated by 
the superior strength of the enemy. 

So in this memorable council, after a long dispute between 
Barclay de Tolly and Benningsen, by a final vote Kutuzov 
decided to abandon Moscow without a battle. "With the loss 
of Moscow," said Kutuzov, " Russia is not ruined, so long as 
the army survives. I see that I shall have to answer for 
everything, but I am willing to sacrifice myself for what I 



300 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

think the good of the country. I give the order to retire," 
added he, rising up from his chair. Then, pensive and sad, 
he walked up and down the cottage, where he had remained 
when the other generals had retired. An officer in close 
attendance upon him tried to dissipate his melancholy. 
" Where shall we stop?" the officer enquired. Kutuzov 
suddenly burst into a passion, struck the table with his fist, 
and said : " This is my doing ; but I will soon make the 
accursed French eat horse flesh, as I made the Turks do last 
year." The old man throughout the night kept discussing 
the matter with tears in his eyes. In reality he gave up 
Moscow so that the wolf might fall into a trap; when he 
had so fallen the Russian army would be prepared to deal 
with him. The following curious notice was posted up in 
the streets by the orders of Rostopchin, the governor, whom 
we have already mentioned among the favourites of Paul : — 

'•The most illustrious prince, Kutuzov, has passed Mozhaisk, 
and united with the rest of the troops. He has taken up a 
strong position, where the enemy cannot attack him suddenly. 
We shall send him forty-eight cannon, and he says that he will 
defend Moscow to the last drop of blood. He is ready to 
fight in the streets. Do not be grieved, brothers, that the 
courts of justice are closed. We must arrange matters, and we 
will settle with the miscreants after their own fashion. I 
hope brave young men will come from the towns and villages. 
The axe is useful ; the pike is also useful ; but the three- 
pronged fork is better than anything. A Frenchman is not 
heavier than a sheaf of rye. To-morrow I shall take the icon 
of the Holy Virgin of Iveria to the Catherine hospital, and it 
will heal both the sick and wounded. I am now well : one 
of my eyes was bad, but now I see with both." Such was the 
strange language of this humourist, who had for some time 
previously been writing attacks upon the French. He repre- 
sented the old Russian party which hated foreigners, and like 
Surovov affected to use the language of the muzhik. 

When a young man named Verestchagin was caught 
foolishly circulating the notices of Napoleon, he caused him 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 301 

to be thrown into the midst of the mob, who tore him to 
pieces. How far Verestchagin had really intended to circulate 
the French proclamations is not clear. Some authorities hold 
that he was merely showing off his knowledge of foreign 
languages by translating from the foreign newspapers which 
had come by post. Under any circumstances he committed 
an act of egregious folly, and paid dearly for it. When the 
inhabitants found out that the Russian troops had retreated 
from Borodino to Moscow, there was great consternation. 
Every man began to look out for himself, and the selfishness 
of despair prevailed everywhere. All respect for persons was 
at an end. One man buried his wealth in the corner of a 
courtyard ; another concealed it in his cellar, or built it up 
in a wall. The serfs who helped him to do so in many cases 
afterwards dug it up for their own profit. Few of the original 
owners ever got their property again, it being either burnt or 
stolen. Those who owned horses were in the best case, 
because they could carry off their possessions ; but, on the 
other hand, they were liable to have their horses requisitioned 
for the service of the Government. The most painful spectacle 
was presented in the case of those tradesmen who had passed 
all their lives in their shops, which were well stored with goods. 
These were unwilling to abandon their wares, and had no 
means of carrying them away. Accordingly, as they would 
not allow them to remain for the French to enjoy, they offered 
them as a gift to any who chose to accept them. All wished 
to leave Moscow as soon as possible. People were every- 
where to be seen quitting the city on foot, heavily laden with 
sacks and bags. There was universal confusion. It was like 
a vast parade, as an aged lady who had herself witnessed it 
once described it- to the writer. 

The exodus, as was natural, took place on the opposite 
side of the city to that by which it was expected the 
enemy would enter ; and at the barriers the confusion 
was naturally much increased; the shouts of the crowd 
blended with cries of pain and abuse. With the whole city 
at their mercy, thieves and pickpockets seized their oppor- 



302 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

tunity ; they had all Moscow for their hunting-grounds. Bare- 
footed ruffians carried all before them, and served their country 
by turning incendiaries. 

But although Rostopchin had issued his misleading notice, 
and talked in a vague way about the Russian troops making a 
stand at Moscow, he was removing the Government property 
as fast as he could. The rougher part of the populace now 
began to break into the liquor shops, and to stab all foreigners 
whom they came across. A report was spread that Rostopchin 
had ordered the citizens to assemble at a place called the 
Three Hills, with such weapons as they could get hold of, 
and that he would lead them in person. The citizens, how- 
ever, stood there in crowds, awaiting his arrival in vain : 
and it was not until the darkness of night came upon them 
that they dispersed. 

On the night of the 13th of September Rostopchin learned 
definitely that Moscow was to be abandoned to the French. 
Carriages were at once got ready to transport the sick. The 
police began to burn the corn, forage, and stores which could 
not be carried away ; the casks of wine were broken up ; 
and debauchery and drunkenness prevailed throughout the 
night. 

Towards morning the agitation of the people reached its 
height. Huge crowds assembled in front of the house of 
the Commander-in-Chief, urging him to lead them against 
the French. Rostopchin now found himself in a position 
of great difficulty. 

He proceeded to release the prisoners, and then, amid the 
murmurs of the populace, delegated all authority to the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, and left the city for his country house just 
as the French were beginning to appear on the heights. The 
people were soon to see what the actual plans of Rostopchin 
were. He certainly did not seek his country house with a 
view of hiding himself there, for he shortly set fire to it to 
prevent its falling into the hands of the French. All vessels 
on the Moskva which contained stores were now blown up, and 
the noise of the explosions still further terrified the people. 



1821] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 303 

Two hundred thousand of the inhabitants left Moscow in 
two days. On the morning of the 14th of September, 
Kutuzov had hardly succeeded in forcing his way through the 
barrier on the road to Riazan. Meanwhile the enemy was 
approaching the Kaluga barrier. 

The greater part of the Russian troops marched quietly enough 
through the deserted city, but the garrison of the Kremlin was 
accompanied by a band. This seemed very inappropriate, 
and roused murmurings among the soldiers and inhabitants 
generally. The fiery Miloradovich, afterwards to die by the 
hands of a Dekabrist, turned with a rebuke to the general 
who commanded. "If a garrison on the surrender of a fortress 
is allowed to depart," answered the simple general, " it 
goes out with music. Such was the rule laid down by Peter 
the Great." " But did Peter the Great lay down the rule 
about the surrender of Moscow ? " cried out Miloradovich. 
" Bid your music cease." 

And thus Moscow, with her golden cupolas, after having 
been spared such an indignity for two centuries, was surrendered 
to an enemy once more. It had been in the hands of the 
Poles in 16 12. 

On the 15th of September Napoleon gazed upon the city 
from the Sparrow Hills, especially the Poklonnaya. As he 
surveyed it through his telescope, he is recorded to have said, 
" There it is at last — that celebrated city. Now the war is 
finished." He sent Murat with some officers to arrange a 
triumphant entry for him. At the same time the congratula- 
tions he received, and the feeling that he had triumphed over 
all obstacles, seemed to cause him some emotion. At the 
Dragomilovski barrier he got off his horse and walked up and 
down. He seemed to have an idea that a deputation would 
come out to him from the city. He probably meditated the 
utterance of some of those sonorous and epigrammatic 
sentences which on previous occasions had resounded through- 
out Europe. He had doubtless many in readiness for the 
Russians, but they were destined to be uttered under less 
favourable circumstances, 



304 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isi2 

The hours passed, but nobody arrived. He now began to 
lose patience, walking up and down in great agitation, and 
looking round on all sides. He frowned, took off and put on 
his gloves, and nervously squeezed his pocket-handkerchief. 

The searches made by those whom he sent had been use- 
less : the streets were all deserted. Not more than 10,000 
inhabitants remained, and they had hidden themselves in 
their terror. 

The French officers succeeded at last in collecting some 
foreigners who were living in Moscow, and among them a 
French bookseller. These were all brought before Napoleon. 
" Who are you? " said the Emperor, turning to the bookseller. 
"A Frenchman settled in Moscow." " That is to say, my 
subject. Where is the senate ? " " It has gone away." 
"And the governor?" "He has gone away." "Where 
are the people ? " "There are no people." "Who is there 
in the city ? " " Nobody." " It can't be so." " I swear it 
is so, on my honour." " Be silent," and the Emperor 
frowned, and was himself silent. Then, in his anger, he 
ordered the deputation to be driven off. This striking 
scene has formed the subject of a picture by the painter 
Verestchagin. 

Napoleon, however, refused to believe that Moscow was 
deserted, and ordered a cannon to be fired as a signal for the 
troops to march into the city. Mounting his horse he himself 
entered by the Dragomilovski barrier. The soldiers at once 
made preparations to enter the city, and ranged themselves 
round the Poklonnaya Gora, where Napoleon then was, and 
also along the river Moskva. They had now before them the 
white-walled city, sparkling in the sunshine with its many- 
coloured cupolas and towers. It was indeed a picturesque 
sight. They waved their caps with joy and with shouts of 
delight obeyed the signal of the gun. 

Miloradovich meanwhile covered the retreat of the 
Russian army. It took some time to get out of the city, 
as the streets were blocked with abandoned goods. He 
proposed to Murat, who commanded the French avant 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 305 

garde, to suspend hostilities for a few hours so as to give the 
French free passage. If this were not granted he declared 
that he would fight till the last man and only leave smoking 
ruins. Murat agreed. 

The streets were thus quite empty when the French 
entered ; none but the very lowest class of vagabonds, beggars, 
and thieves remained, flitting about like spectres, ready for 
any acts of lawlessness. 

Many interesting accounts have been preserved by Russians 
who were witnesses of the scenes, among which we may 
mention several chapters in the memoirs of Herzen, and 
some striking diaries printed a few years ago in the Russkii 
Arkhiv. So much has been written on the French side that 
it is especially interesting to read how Russia confronted this 
terrible onset. 

As the French guard entered the Kremlin a strange scene 
was enacted. The first division was passing through the 
gates under the Nikolski tower when a peasant rushed out and 
laid hold of the leading officer, rolled him over in the mud, 
and fastened his teeth in his throat. The man seems to have 
taken him for Napoleon, thinking that none but the Emperor 
himself would be allowed to have the honour of riding first 
into the Kremlin. This unwelcome surprise was followed by 
a heavy fire from some concealed sharpshooters, and the 
French found themselves called upon to face a shower of 
bullets. The Polish Uhlans in the French service soon put 
an end to this, though the event gave rise to a feeling of 
great insecurity. 

The first night (15th to 16th September) Napoleon spent 
in the Dragomilovskaya Sloboda, which was then a very poor 
quarter, consisting almost entirely of inns. He is said to have 
suffered a great deal from the filthiness of his surroundings, 
and to have been constantly waking his valet to pay attention 
to him during the night. He left the next day without paying 
anything, according to the right of the conqueror. 

On the 1 6th of September, in very disagreeable weather, 
he entered the Kremlin, where his guard was stationed, and 
u 



3o6 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isi2 

took up his abode in the palace. But now the snare into 
which he had allowed himself to fall became evident. When 
night fell it was observed that the Gostinii Dvor and the 
Karetnii Riad as well as other parts of the city were on fire. 
Soon a terrible conflagration was raging round the Kremlin 
itself, and was increased by the strong wind which had sprung 
up. Churches burst out into flame, to be followed quickly by 
the houses of rich Russian magnates, the bridges over the 
Moskva and the vessels on the river. From the windows of 
the palace the amazed Emperor saw a sheet of flame all 
round him ; Moscow was being destroyed. The Russians, 
after carrying off what they could, had left the emptied city 
to be given as a prey to the flames. " These are Scythians, 
indeed!" he exclaimed. "Moscow no longer exists; the 
Russians are burning it themselves ! What a people." 

Peril was not long in threatening the person of the Em- 
peror himself. He could now no longer stand at the windows, 
the panes of which were breaking all round him, while 
flaming fragments were blown on to the Kremlin, in the 
squares of which the ammunition had been piled up. 
Napoleon ordered the incendiaries to be seized where pos- 
sible ; and accordingly twenty-five miserable wretches were 
arrested and dragged before a military court. Of these 
twelve were shot in the square of the Kremlin, and the re- 
mainder sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. These fires 
had been undoubtedly carefully organised, and there is 
reason to believe that the city was set on fire by the express 
orders of Rostopchin. In the latter part of his life — in 
accordance with his strange paradoxical character — he seems 
to have denied having issued the order, but no one has given 
credence to this denial. It is certain that nothing has ever 
transpired to show that the step was directly ordered by the 
Tsar. Rostopchin may, however, have received and acted upon 
some secret hint from him. Alexander would scarcely have 
allowed it to become publicly known that he burnt his own 
capital. Some writers, however, still think that the fire was 
accidental. Rostopchin, they say, might have simplified 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 307 

matters if he had been desirous of burning the city by setting 
fire to the powder preserved in the Kremlin. The fire had 
broken out in places where it was least to be expected ; and, 
in spite of the strict watch which was kept, the interior of 
the Kremlin itself as well as the stables of the palace burst 
into flames. Napoleon was compelled amid the smoke and 
stench of the burning streets to quit Moscow on the following 
day (September 16th) for the sake of fresh air. He made for 
the Petrovski palace, just outside the city, but had great 
difficulty in getting there although guided by a police-agent. 

He was now in a state of complete gloom, oppressed by 
the vast solitude and the all-devouring flames. He had, 
moreover, terrible forebodings of famine. The further he 
advanced the more the country was devastated, while the 
conflagration only came to an end on the 1st of October. 
The French troops were allowed to plunder the city. 
Rostopchin had arranged that the sacred furniture from the 
churches should as far as possible be removed, as also the 
Government archives. There had not been time, however, 
to carry off all the valuable things, and much booty re- 
mained for the invaders. The French, as they had done 
elsewhere, seemed to take a special delight in destroy- 
ing the historical monuments of the country. Thus the 
cross was taken from the belfry of Ivan the Great and 
sent to France as a trophy, but before the invaders got out 
of the country they were glad to leave it behind. It was 
thrown into a lake, which was afterwards drained, and the 
historical cross was thus rescued and replaced in its old 
position. In the churches the most scandalous desecration 
took place : the bones of the saints were thrown out of 
their coffins, and the buildings stripped of all ornaments, 
from cupola to floor. In the Arkhangelski Sobor the 
Russians on their return found traces of orgies, the whole 
building being defiled with the stains of wine. In the 
Kremlin churches stores of oats, hay and straw had been 
piled up for the horses of Napoleon. In the Verkho-Spasski 
Sobor the altar had been used as a dining-table, and that of 



308 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

the Kazan Cathedral had been thrown out into the square, 
and a horse stalled in its place. Davoust, who lived in 
the Novodievitchii convent, and remained in the Kremlin 
so as to be at hand to present reports to Napoleon, used 
to sleep on the high altar in the cathedral of the Chudovo 
monastery. 

In the Petrovski and Danilov monasteries slaughter-houses 
were erected, and all the space within the walls was deluged 
with blood and denied with the raw flesh of oxen. In the 
Bogoyavlenski monastery the French dragged about an aged 
priest by the hair of his head and beard in order to make him 
confess where the treasures were hidden. It was truly a terrible 
time for such of the clergy as were compelled to stay behind. 
In the Novospasski, the priest Nicodemus was made to kneel. 
On each side of him French soldiers stood with drawn swords, 
threatening him with instant death if he did not disclose where 
the valuable things of the monastery were concealed ; and the 
priest of the Sorokosviatski Church died of fright. As so many 
houses had been destroyed it was not easy for all the French 
soldiers to find quarters, and this would account for their 
occupation of the churches for themselves and their horses. 
The weather, which in the beginning of September had been 
somewhat wet, was now mild. The conflagrations had not been 
confined to the city, but had extended to the suburbs, where 
many of the splendid mansions of the Russian nobility had been 
burned. Rostopchin had himself fired his own country house, 
as Sir Robert Wilson has narrated in his Memoirs. Wilso» 
accompanied the Russian army, and tells us how Rostopchin, 
who was a widower, gave him a torch, and entreated him to 
set fire to his late wife's boudoir, as he could not summon 
courage to do it himself. 

The autumn nights were now beginning to be cold. The 
French do not seem to have realised what was in store for 
them. The soldiers made large fires of icons, books, valuable 
pictures and furniture. Sometimes they made a path through 
the snow in the courts of the Russian houses by walking on 
the outspread backs of huge folios. Several valuable MSS. 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 309 

were destroyed in this way, among others the original copy of 
the Slovo polku Igoreve. In the Krasnaya Plotschad they 
practised shooting at marks, and the marks were generally 
icons. 

Napoleon himself, however, would seem to have set a good 
example to his soldiers as regards the treatment of the sacred 
buildings, and it is also to be remembered that the invading 
army comprised troops of many nationalities. In Smolensk, 
when he went into the Uspenski Sobor, he took off his hat, 
and caused the building to be respected. His orders were 
strictly carried out, and on the return journey of the French 
through Smolensk the sentry was the last person who left the 
cathedral. In Moscow he protected the Foundling Hospital, 
where lay about 2000 wounded men ; and in some of the 
churches he even allowed the services to be performed. 

Napoleon foolishly lingered five weeks among the ruins of 
Moscow, though he felt that he must retreat, and his only 
object now was to do so without dishonour. The foraging 
parties were able to procure but few supplies, in spite of 
treating the peasants everywhere with the greatest brutality. 
The latter were being constantly brought into Moscow in 
batches, there to be shot. They all died in the most stoical 
fashion, although these executions were ordained in terrorem, 
in consequence of the poor creatures having concealed their 
little property. In these savage reprisals many of Napoleon's 
allies acted more cruelly than his own troops — the Bavarians 
especially. But the nemesis was at hand. 

When Alexander heard of the burning of Moscow from a 
messenger sent by Kutuzov, he burst into tears, and exclaimed : 
" Oh God ! what misfortunes ; I conclude from this all that 
will happen to us ; that Providence requires from us great 
sacrifices — from me especially. I am ready to submit to His 
will. Tell the world, that, if I have not a soldier left, I will 
summon my faithful nobility and my good villagers. I will 
myself lead them, and employ every means which my empire 
can boast. Russia affords me more resources than my enemies 
think. But if it is decreed by fate and the Providence of God 



3io A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

that my family should rule no longer on the throne of my 
ancestors, then, having exhausted all my resources, I will 
grow a beard and live on bread in the wilds of Siberia, rather 
than subscribe to the shame of my country and my good 
subjects, whose self-sacrifice I know how to value. God is 
now trying us ; let us hope he will not leave us. Either 
Napoleon or I — I or Napoleon ; but we cannot rule together. 
I have already learned his character ; he will deceive me no 
more." He might have said in the words of Shakspere — 

" I must perforce 
Have shown to thee such a declining day, 
Or look on thine ; we could not stall together 
In the whole world." 

The French Emperor vainly endeavoured to open nego- 
tiations with him ; the Tsar vouchsafed no reply to his 
overtures. On September 19th, when the conflagration had 
abated, Napoleon returned from the palace of Petrovski to 
the Kremlin. On his way thither he noticed how the French 
soldiers were wrecking such houses as remained standing, 
and throwing from the windows into the streets valuable 
pictures and furniture ; while they compelled their Russian 
prisoners with blows to load their vehicles with plunder of 
all kinds — plunder which eventually proved such a hindrance 
to them during the retreat. 

Napoleon had given orders that the Kremlin was to be 
kept clean, and was accordingly greatly annoyed at the 
filth which had been allowed to accumulate in his absence. 
During his occasional rides through the city the Russians 
hid themselves, but once near the Okhotnii Riad a troop of 
mendicants ventured to approach him up to their knees in 
mud, and entreated him for alms, but he paid no attention 
to them. 

At length, on the nth of October, an appeal to the in- 
habitants was issued : — 

" Peaceable inhabitants of Moscow, both masters and work- 
men, whom misfortunes have driven from the city, and you, 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 311 

owners of land, whom an unfounded fear keeps away, listen. 
Peace is returning to this capital, and order is being restored 
in it. Your countrymen come boldly from their retreats. 
They see that they are respected. All acts of violence 
committed against them and their property are immediately 
punished. The Emperor protects them, and he considers 
none among you his enemies, except those who disobey his 
orders. He wishes to put an end to your sufferings, and will 
restore you to your homes and to your families. Respond to 
his benevolent measures, and come without any risk. Return 
with confidence to your dwellings ; you will soon find the 
means of satisfying your wants. Artisans and industrious 
workmen, return to your work : your houses and shops await 
you, and there will be troops to protect you. You shall 
receive the proper reward of your work. Peasants, come out 
of the woods where you have hidden yourselves through 
terror. Return without fear to your cottages in the sure 
conviction that you will find protection. Provision shops 
have been established in the city where the peasants can 
bring what they have to sell." Napoleon seems to have 
intended paying for all these commercial schemes by forged 
rouble notes. 

This was followed by the appointment of market days, and 
every possible attempt was made to restore the old current 
of trade. Both in coming into the town and going back to 
the villages the peasants were to be protected, notwithstand- 
ing that the blood of so many of them had previously been 
wantonly shed. But with all his efforts Napoleon seems to have 
been unable to make his troops respect his orders ; robberies 
were continual, and tradesmen and peasants alike profoundly 
mistrusted him ; meanwhile, continually trying to negotiate, 
through some high officers whom he had taken prisoners, 
he showed plainly enough that his position was an insecure 
one. He sent a special messenger to Kutuzov with a flag 
of truce, saying that he was really friendly to the Tsar and 
did not wish to fight with the Russians. He had only wished 
to enforce the Berlin decrees so as to prevent the English 



312 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

enriching themselves at the public expense. The Russians, 
however, could not be made to appreciate the friendship of 
a man who had a drawn sword in his hand ; and as for the 
cause of the war they could not understand that in any way 
they were fighting for the English. The bearer of the flag 
of truce was sent back without an answer. Kutuzov was 
even forbidden by the Emperor to receive any offer of peace. 
It was at this time that Krilov composed his fable of the 
wolf in the dog-kennel. A Russian writer says that to the 
popular mind Napoleon had somewhat of the appearance of 
a wolf. He generally wore a long grey coat over his uniform, 
and a three-cornered hat with points which made him look 
to the peasants like a wolf with long ears. 

Meanwhile some Russian soldiers disguised as tradesmen 
made their appearance in Moscow. Kutuzov had sent them 
to spread reports among the French to the effect that the 
Russians were reduced to great extremities, that Platov was 
ready to play the traitor, and that there were still twenty-six 
regiments of Cossacks at Tarutino. These pseudo-tradesmen 
offered to furnish Napoleon with provisions at a cheap rate ; 
not, however, that there was any intention of doing so, but 
solely with the object of inducing him to protract his stay till 
the winter came on. Meanwhile they continued to make 
careful reports of the condition of the French army. 

Napoleon was now daily falling deeper into the trap. The 
Russian guerilla bands were beginning to cause him great 
trouble. These consisted chiefly of desperate peasants, serfs, 
and regular soldiers under the irregular command of nobles 
and officers, and displayed for the most part a great amount 
of dexterity and boldness. Small detachments of cavalry, 
under the command of the ablest officers, moved quietly 
from place to place, and fell upon the French when the latter 
ventured out of Moscow in quest of provisions. All along 
the road from Smolensk to Moscow flying bodies of horse 
seized the supplies and arms of the enemy, and intercepted 
the messengers sent to and by Napoleon. Among these 
commanders was Captain Figner, a leader especially con- 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 313 

spicuous for his prowess. He was a handsome, vigorous 
man of about twenty-four years of age, with bright eyes and 
a full face : he spoke French like a Frenchman and made 
use of it constantly to mislead the enemy. He frequently 
would lead his troop up to the very walls of the city ; when, 
having concealed his men somewhere in a wood, he would 
disguise himself as a French officer and set out to the enemy's 
front ranks. On one of these occasions, we read, he repri- 
manded the French patrols for their carelessness, telling them 
that a party of Cossacks had appeared close at hand. At 
another time he told them that the Russians were occupying 
such and such a village, and that it would be necessary 
to seek provisions in another direction. Thus he became 
acquainted with the movements of the enemy, and not in- 
frequently succeeded in leading them to where his own 
concealed troop could cut them to pieces. The name of 
Figner soon became well known to the French, and a large 
price was set upon his head. Napoleon even placed artillery 
to lie in wait for him on the Smolensk road, but nothing 
seemed to daunt his brave spirit. We hear of him attacking 
the bivouac of a French regiment, and taking prisoner the 
colonel and 50 men. His daily average of prisoners was 
from 200 to 300 men. Even when things went badly for 
him he understood how to get out of his difficulties. On 
one occasion, when surrounded in a wood with troops every- 
where in front of him and a vast morass in his rear, the 
French thought that he was in their power at last, and 
arranged their bivouac so that he could not escape. But 
Figner during the night managed by means of poles to put 
himself into communication with a neighbouring village, the 
inhabitants of which constructed a path over the marsh with 
planks and straw, and thus he effected his escape with all 
his horses and men. In the morning the astonished French 
could not conceive what had become of Figner and his troop. 
They tried to cross the marsh, but their horses sank up to 
their necks, and by the time they were extricated all trace 
of Figner was lost. Towards the end of September some 



3 i4 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

of these guerilla captains ventured to make an assault on 
Moscow : they forced their way in by the Tver barrier, and 
a sharp engagement took place. 

The inhabitants of the villages of course assisted these 
flying bands. They hid their families and provisions in the 
woods, and formed companies among themselves, choosing 
retired soldiers for their leaders, and keeping close guard in 
the villages. Everyone who entered the village was closely 
observed and interrogated. Sentries were placed in the 
belfries of the churches to sound the alarm whenever the 
enemy appeared. The peasants were everywhere on the 
alert, and whenever the enemy showed themselves in small 
numbers did not hesitate to attack them, armed with weapons 
of the most miscellaneous character. The bodies of those who 
were killed were cast into pits and ponds. If the enemy 
were numerous, the peasants retreated further into the 
woods. 

Even to unarmed enemies there was but little quarter shown. 
The order had been given by the Ispravnik not to spare the 
French ; and, indeed, little encouragement was needed, even 
among the women, to wreak a mad vengeance; which is 
perhaps scarcely to be wondered at when we consider 
the sufferings they had undergone at the hands of the 
invader. 

Early on the morning of the 19th of October Napoleon left 
Moscow, riding out through the Kaluga Gate. Before taking 
his departure he vented his spite on the city. He ordered 
Marshal Mortier to blow up the Kremlin, and all the most 
important monuments and buildings, and to burn everything 
in the rear of the army as they advanced. 

In what condition the French army left Moscow we shall 
see later, from the accounts of eye-witnesses. The number 
of soldiers who set out from the ruined city was not less than 
105,000, and with them were also families to the number of 
10,000, for the most part of various nationalities, but chiefly 
French, who dreaded the popular vengeance if they remained 
behind. 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 315 

On every side were to be seen vehicles of all kinds, 
loaded with the most promiscuous booty, of which the plate 
and ornaments from the churches formed a large portion. 
According to Labaume the long files of carriages extended 
for several leagues. When about ten versts from Moscow, 
Napoleon breakfasted. He boasted meanwhile that having 
sent the wounded from Moscow to Mozhaisk, on their way to 
France, he had rescued them from death at the hands of the 
barbarous Russians. He now began to feel anxious about 
the corps of Marshal Mortier, which had been left behind 
with orders to blow up the city. His first idea was to march 
southwards to Kaluga, where he might get supplies and find 
fresh districts to ravage. He was now, however, making for 
the direction of Maloyaroslavetz. 

When the Russian general, Benningsen, who was stationed 
at Klin, heard of the departure of Napoleon from Moscow, 
and the orders that had been given for blowing up the 
Kremlin, he went in the company of Captain Narishkin 
with a flag of truce to Moscow to do what he could to 
stop the destruction. But at the Tverskaya he was taken 
prisoner. 

At midnight on the 23rd of October, Mortier set fire 
to the arsenal of the Kremlin and other buildings. A violent 
explosion took place, followed by six others ; the dvorets was 
blown up, as was the granitovaya palata, a building closely 
adjoining the belfry of Ivan the Great, and the arsenal. The 
walls of the Kremlin were also injured in many places, but 
the churches there were preserved. So, too, was the Novo- 
dievitchii monastery. Here the French had lived as in a 
fortress, bringing with them large casks of wine. They offered 
no insults to the aged nuns, but as they left they scattered 
lighted candles about the building. A quantity of powder 
also was placed under the Sobor with a long fuse attached, 
and to this they set fire. The nuns, however, succeeded in ex- 
tinguishing the flames before they had spread very far ; and 
fortunately in the early morning, while passing the Sobor, they 
noticed the burning match and quenched it; so that, owing to 



316 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

what was an accidental circumstance, the whole monastery re- 
mained unscathed. 

Napoleon, still anxious to pose as a conqueror before 
Europe, now proclaimed to the world in a turgid bulletin 
that Moscow no longer existed. No sooner, however, had 
Mortier withdrawn his men from Moscow than it was occupied 
by the advance guard of the Russian militia under the com- 
mand of Prince Shakovski. They had been employed till 
then in transporting the wounded in great numbers between 
Klin and Tver. Shakovski used afterwards to tell how he 
entered the city by the Iverian Gate — the first of the returning 
Russians — with a small party of Cossacks, two orderlies, and 
a tchi?iovnik. He passed on foot a deserted chapel, in which, 
two months before, he had listened to a solemn service of 
intercession for the deliverance of Russia from her foes j and 
stumbled at the very gates over the dead body of a Spaniard, 
to judge by the uniform. Orders had been given to the 
Russians to spare the Spaniards, inasmuch as at this time 
Spain was engaged in fighting against France. Shakovski was 
eager to enter the Kremlin, as it was already growing dark. 
He found the Spasski gates locked from inside, and the 
Nikolski gates obstructed by a broken piece of the wall. 
He accordingly climbed over by the help of two hussars. 
He now called out to the Cossacks, who had just witnessed 
one explosion, and were hesitating, through fear of another, 
to follow him. They at once obeyed, and stood by his side 
in front of the burning palace, and the Granitovaya Falata, 
watching the last sparks expire in the darkness of the 
night. 

The writer of this interesting account goes on to tell how 
he went into the churches and caused the icons and the rest 
of the sacred furniture to be restored to their places as far as 
was possible. He also tells of the vast heaps of corpses and 
dead horses inside the Kremlin. These, however, were soon 
cleared away, for as the peasants came up with their carts to 
carry off any plunder which they could get, Count Benkendorf 
requisitioned the vehicles to remove the bodies to places 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 317 

where they could be buried, or in some other way got rid 
of so as to avoid a plague. After three days had been spent 
in this manner, preparations were made for the celebration 
of a solemn liturgy. Only one large church was found to 
be suitable, so the great bell of the Strastnoi monastery pealed 
forth the glad tidings over the ruined city. The tears burst 
forth from every eye when the bells, which had been the 
glory and comfort of Moscow, were once more heard. The 
porches and passages of the churches were crowded. No 
such service had been celebrated since the famous time 
when Pozharski and Minin had driven the Poles from 
Russia in 161 2. After 200 years the country had once 
more experienced a terrible crisis. An eye-witness has 
recorded for us the impressive scene, how, when the 
choir sang, "Oh Lord of Heaven our Comforter," all 
present, magistrates, soldiers, nobles and peasants, even 
Bashkirs and Calmucks, fell on their knees ; their sobs 
blending with the holy singing and the pealing of the 
bells. 

We must now return to Kutuzov. On leaving Moscow 
he had stationed himself for a considerable time on the 
Riazan road ; having gone as far as the Moskva, he waited 
to see whether there was to be another engagement. He then 
went by way of the town of Podolsk to Tarutino, whither he 
was followed by Miloradovich. The latter would seem to have 
been very near trying conclusions with Murat; they at all 
events exchanged words. Murat spoke in a conciliatory 
manner, but Miloradovich replied that he must not talk to 
him or it would displease the soldiers ; and Murat appears to 
have thenceforward lost sight of the Russian forces. Kutuzov 
remained for nearly a month in the village of Tarutino on 
the road from Moscow to Kaluga, with the river Nara in 
front of him. It was an excellent defensive position, being 
intersected by pits and rivers; and in case of attack there 
was open ground before the army, extending for some versts. 
There he awaited the French, and received reports about 
their movements. Many other generals joined him here, and 



3 IS A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

the camp became the rallying-place for the Russian forces. 
Here too was to be found the poet Zhukovski, the laureate 
of the war. Meanwhile Murat, with a force of about 20,000 
men and 187 guns, passed through the villages Domedovo, 
Zherebiatievo, Kutuzovo, and so on to Krasnaia Fakhra. 
His march was harassed by the Cossacks, only one of 
whom, however, seems to have been slain by the French. 
About the 18th of October Orlov came upon him at the 
river Chenishna, near Podolsk, and a sharp engagement 
took place. Murat lost 500 killed and wounded, and 
38 guns. The Russians took 1500 prisoners, as well as 
a standard. It was with difficulty that Murat cut his way 
through to Borovsk. This engagement has sometimes been 
called the battle of Viankovo. If the corps of Baggovut and 
Benningsen had come up sooner the whole advance guard of 
the French would probably have been annihilated. Kutuzov, 
however, does not seem to have set much value on this defeat 
of Murat's troops. He merely remarked that the Russians 
had begun to fight early. Their allies had not yet come, he 
said, alluding to the winter now fast approaching. Two un- 
happy French actresses who tried to effect an escape to the 
lines of Murat were captured in one of the villages and ill- 
treated. 

On the night of October 22nd a messenger came to Kutuzov 
at Tarutino from Dokhturov, with the news that Napoleon had 
quitted Moscow, and was retreating by the new Kaluga road. 
Kutuzov raised himself up in bed, and asked the officer to 
repeat his message. On hearing it he burst into tears, and 
immediately sent orders to Dokhturov to hasten with all pos- 
sible speed to Maloyaroslavetz : a most important move, which, 
as we shall see, eventually decided the issue of the war. The 
next day he marched in that direction with his own force. 
The French had come to Maloyaroslavetz by Fominskoe and 
•Borovsk, the object of Napoleon being to secure for his troops 
a convenient route through the southern governments. At 
Maloyaroslavetz there were altogether only three sotnias 
of Cossacks. The fortifications were but trifling. When 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 319 

Bikorski, the Mayor of the little town, heard of the approach 
of the French he burnt the bridge over the river Luzha, which 
flows through it. The commander of the French advance 
guard, General Delzons, immediately set about constructing 
a pontoon bridge ; but the place was saved by the ingenuity 
of one of the citizens named Bielayev. He conceived the 
bold plan of holding back the invading force by flooding all 
the lower lands surrounding the town through which the French 
would have to go. Amid cheering he led the inhabitants to 
the dam, and by their help soon destroyed it. The liberated 
water at once rushed forth, and all the low-lying ground 
was flooded to the extent of seven versts. The pontoon 
bridge built by the French was dashed to pieces, and the 
debris carried down the river. Thrown out in their cal- 
culations by this clever manoeuvre, the French were com- 
pelled to remain inactive for twenty -four hours while 
endeavouring to effect a crossing by other means, thus 
giving time for the Russian forces to assemble. The 
action of Bielayev had saved the half of southern Russia. 
The hetman Platov reached Maloyaroslavetz with the 
Cossacks of the Don, and immediately afterwards the corps 
of Dorokhov arrived. 

The town was already in the possession of the French, but 
Dorokhov's brigade of chasseurs drove them out at the point 
of the bayonet. The French renewed the attack, and then 
the whole corps of Dokhturov came up, and a severe engage- 
ment took place, the town changing hands no less than 
six times. The battle was fought under the very eyes of 
Napoleon, who fully realised the importance of the situation. 
For a long time Dokhturov had to struggle alone, but 
eventually Kutuzov with the main army made his appear- 
ance. Napoleon now moved up the division of Pino, the 
Italian Guard, and the corps of Davoust. There ensued 
a most sanguinary struggle in the streets of the little town 
among the burning houses. Kutuzov had sent Rayevski to 
help Dokhturov. The French were again in possession of 
the town ; the Russians several times had nearly driven them 



320 



A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 



[1812 



out, but were repulsed by a deadly fire from the batteries 
which Napoleon had posted on the left bank of the river. 
The troops from Tarutino now appeared on the Kaluga 
road, and Kutuzov, having surveyed the position, ordered 
Konovnitsin to drive the enemy out of Maloyaroslavetz. This 
the latter succeeded in doing, and occupied the greater part 
of the town. At eleven o'clock the engagement came to an 
end. 

At four o'clock on the morning of the following day, 
Platov, who with his Cossack regiments was on the left wing, 



Msij: ox:* tzosl^ ie tz /*, /z 




£n#l.Mtlee £ 



crossed the Luzha and quickly came along the main road on 
to the rear of the French. The quarters of Napoleon were 
about ten versts away, in the little town of Gorodnia. It was 
from this place that he watched eagerly to see if Kutuzov 
would come ; and he was not a little disconcerted when he 
saw the glitter of the bayonets approaching. 

It was at Maloyaroslavetz that Napoleon, while reconnoitring, 
was nearly taken prisoner by some of the Cossacks. As it 
was, they carried off some guns. On the 25th of October 
Napoleon halted in sight of Maloyaroslavetz in a state of 
perplexity. After much hesitation he thought of going to 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 321 

Medin and Yukhnov. It seemed certain that he would now 
have to fight another great battle, as Kutuzov blocked his 
road. A general engagement was confidently expected on 
both sides. When he returned to his quarters he studied the 
map for about an hour without saying a word. He then 
announced his determination to go to St Petersburg, and even 
in his despatches to Paris professed to find the Russian 
weather very agreeable. But when he came to ask his 
marshals what they thought of the matter, Mouton said 
plainly that they must get back to France by way of 
Mozhaisk and Smolensk as soon as they could. And thus 
it came about that the delay caused by Bielaiev's manoeuvre 
had made the victory of Maloyaroslavetz possible. In the 
battle of the 24th of October about 6000 men were put hors 
de combat, and two of the French generals — the brothers 
Delzons— were killed. On the other side the Russians lost 
Dorokhov, who had contributed in very large measure to the 
victory. When information was brought to him that Kutuzov 
had moved his army to Kaluga, Napoleon sat by the fire 
for some time in meditation, and then ordered his troops to 
march by the road to Smolensk and Gzhatsk, thus pronounc- 
ing the death sentence of the French army. Instead of 
traversing regions where they could get provisions, they were 
now obliged to retrace their steps, through devastated districts 
and ruined villages. 

From Borovsk and Maloyaroslavetz Napoleon now turned 
in the direction of Borodino, thus once more compelling his 
troops to traverse that field fraught with such terrible 
memories. The Russians were hanging on his rear. Witt- 
genstein advanced by the north, Chichagov by the south, 
and Platov and his Cossacks hovered behind. Kutuzov 
marched parallel with the French columns, wisely avoiding 
an engagement but perpetually harassing them. The sights 
which awaited them on the field of Borodino were truly 
appalling. The bodies of the slain still lay about in 
vast numbers, and in many cases the lives of the wounded 
had to all appearance been protracted for some time in 
x 



322 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

great agony. At the town of Vereia on October 27 th, 
Napoleon ordered the Russian prisoners, General Benningsen 
and Captain Narishkin to be brought to him. He received 
Benningsen with severity, because he concluded from his name 
that he was a Saxon or Bohemian, and told him that as he 
was his subject he ought not to be in the Russian service. 
He more than once gave orders for him to be shot, but each 
time rescinded the sentence. On the other hand, he praised 
Narishkin as a Russian for his good service to Russia. The 
prisoners were sent to Metz, but were rescued on the Russian 
frontier by a guerilla leader, Colonel Chemishev. Soon 
afterwards Napoleon left Vereia and proceeded to Gzhatsk. 
Now for the first time on any of his expeditions he rode in 
a vehicle, and wore a warm green pelisse (shuba) of Polish 
make. In the monastery of Kolotsk he inspected the 
French wounded who had been sent from Moscow, and 
expressed great displeasure at the way in which they had 
been robbed by their comrades. On October 29th 
Napoleon left Gzhatsk for Viazma ; the night of October 
30th he spent in a church of the village of Velichevo, He 
now began to realise that he must make straight for Smolensk. 
He entertained the idea that abundance of provisions would 
be found there, for he had given directions for them to be 
stored. Platov with his Cossacks and Miloradovich with 
20,000 infantry and cavalry had been sent by Kutuzov to 
pursue the French on their way from Gzhatsk. Kutuzov 
was himself following and had plenty of supplies. The rear- 
guard of the French army was simultaneously attacked on 
both sides by Miloradovitch and Platov, but unsuccessfully. 

The French entered Viazma and were followed soon after- 
wards by the peasants and guerilla bands under their leaders, 
Seslavin and Figner. The town was set on fire. Even so 
late as the fifties it showed signs of the ravages com- 
mitted. Wilson, who was an eye-witness, has given us a 
very graphic account of the destruction of this town. The 
French abandoned large numbers of waggons, and in order 
to facilitate their retreat, set fire to those parts which had 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 323 

escaped in former conflagrations. In doing so great numbers 
of their own sick and wounded were burnt alive; in one 
church alone several hundred thus perished ; and many of 
these had to endure the additional suffering of being first 
mangled by an explosion of shells. It was not known 
whether these had been left accidentally or by design. The 
Russians held the latter opinion that it had been purposely 
so arranged as to destroy them. The universal suspicion 
increased the ferocity of the promiscuous carnage. 

At Viazma 4000 French were killed and 3000 captured. 
A flag was taken as well as three guns. Towards the 
beginning of November the cold increased in severity. One 
of the Russian officers has recorded how a tall and lean 
German came to his tent and made an effort to warm himself 
at his fire. His face was as black as his clothing. His head 
was wrapped in rags, and his feet were in a sack. He only 
uttered " Have pity upon me and give me some bread." The 
officer allowed him to sit near his fire, enemy though he was. 
He expressed the greatest gratitude on getting a little biscuit 
soaked in hot water. He vehemently cursed Napoleon. 
Soon afterwards a Frenchman, also starving, came up and 
asked for something to eat. An axe was given him with 
which he was bidden to cut a piece of flesh from a dead 
horse that was lying not far off, but his hands were too weak 
to cut the frozen carcass. He threw down the axe in despair, 
and sank to the ground muttering, "It is clear I must die." 

On the way from Viazma to Smolensk the great shrinkage 
of Napoleon's army became apparent. The cold was severer 
than the thinly-clothed French could bear ; the shoes of the 
horses, shod in the French way, slipped and became quite 
useless. The carts with the plunder from Moscow were 
now abandoned. Many famishing Frenchmen threw away 
their arms and spent the night round fires made on the 
hard ground. When these fires burnt themselves out, they 
were frozen to death, whereupon any surviving companions 
hastened to strip off their clothes and boots. Many sank 
down on the road and suffered a similar fate. "Once," says 



324 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

an eye-witness, "we found a fair-haired young officer in a 
thin blue uniform and three-cornered hat : his eyes were 
half-closed, his head was bent aside, and a deadly pallor 
was spread over his handsome face. He pressed his right 
hand to his heart but could answer nothing to our enquiries. 
Suddenly his eyes became fixed, and he expired before us. 
And in France those who loved him were no doubt awaiting 
him." 

The peasants frequently treated the straggling soldiers with 
great cruelty, drowning them, and sometimes even burying 
them alive. The exasperation of the villagers, keen as it 
was, was increased by the burning of the villages by the 
retreating army. 

About the 6th of November a winter of unusual severity 
even for Russia set in. The wind cut like a razor, and the 
frost reached as low as 15 . Kutuzov welcomed its arrival 
in one of his addresses to his troops. He knew well what 
such a winter meant to the invaders. At this time Napoleon 
with his guard passed Dorogobuzh. They had frost now to 
12 , and a deep snow fell. The corps of the viceroy, Eugene 
Beauharnais, was now detached from the main army, and 
turned to Dukhovstchina, with the view of uniting with the 
troops who had come from the Dvina. Owing to the deep 
snow they were hardly able to move. At every place where 
they rested for the night the men were frozen to death by 
hundreds, and eighty guns had to be abandoned. 

Everything now got into a state of confusion, and discipline 
altogether disappeared. The soldiers in this corps, many of 
whom were natives of Italy or of other warm countries, seemed 
petrified, and wandered about like shadows. As the corps 
was crossing the river Vop it was attacked by Platov with 
his Don Cossacks, and completely defeated. Sixty-four more 
guns were lost, as well as all the baggage, and the greater part 
of the men. They were now compelled to make for Smolensk. 

On November 10th the guerilla leaders, or partisans as they 
were called, Seslavin and Figner, fell on another important 
French detachment on the Dukhovstchina road, and destroyed 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 325 

a great number, together with the commander and 200 officers, 
and they took 1000 prisoners. 

At length on the evening of the nth November, Napoleon 
entered Smolensk. Here he had hoped to find abundance of 
provisions awaiting him, but, as supplies had to be collected 
against the will of the Russians, it was not an easy matter to 
procure them. The inhabitants were mercilessly plundered, 
and shot down if they hesitated in giving up their whole 
possessions. 

At Smolensk, which is one of the most important strategic 
points in Russia, there were 25,000 soldiers of the 9th corps 
under the command of Gerard, and another 25,000 forming half 
the corps of Victor. The supply of provisions consequently 
proved quite inadequate ; and rations were only furnished to 
the guards, the rest of the soldiers not being admitted into 
the town. Napoleon, when he heard to his dismay how the 
matter stood, is said to have ordered the commissioner to 
be shot for his negligence, but this did not make provisions 
more abundant. Moreover, the guerilla companies, which 
were very numerous, impeded the collection of supplies. In 
the district of Gzhatsk, a man named Samus, a hussar of the 
Elizavetograd regiment, who had been compelled to leave the 
army through a wound which he had received, raised a band 
of peasants and courageously attacked all Frenchmen getting 
forage. On the recommendation of Miloradovich he was 
made sergeant. There were other very valuable partisans in 
the neighbouring villages, who did a great deal to hamper 
the French movements. So also in the district of Youkhonsk 
and Roslavl great bravery was shown, and the Ispravnik of 
the latter town was killed. 

Close by Smolensk lived two men who showed the spirit 
of true patriots — Colonel Engelhardt and a civilian named 
Shubin. The former helped the Cossacks in killing many 
French, and kept order in the neighbourhood. The latter, 
who was living on his estate, attacked the French and took 
twenty-one prisoners. One of these, however, escaped, and 
gave information of what had happened. Engelhardt was 



326 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

brought prisoner to Smolensk and locked up in one of the 
churches. He was tried by court-martial, and sentenced to 
be shot. The sentence was carried out on the 27th of 
October. When he was brought behind the Molokhov gates, 
where he was to die, the French tried to persuade him to 
enter their service, as if they were in reality the masters of 
the country. They offered him the same rank in their own 
army. The Russian nobleman rejected with contempt the 
unworthy offer. He tore off the handkerchief with which they 
had bound his eyes and gazed steadfastly at the firing-party. 
A similar fate befell Shubin, and the same offers were made 
to and rejected by him. The monument erected to the 
memory of Engelhardt is still to be seen at Smolensk. The 
Tsar conferred pensions upon the relations of both these 
heroes. 

Meanwhile tidings reached Napoleon from all quarters that 
Kutuzov was marching upon Smolensk. He knew that it had 
been resolved at St Petersburg to pursue him as long as he 
remained on Russian territory. Several detachments of the 
Russian army were now returning from Turkey. The road 
to St Petersburg had been blocked at Polotsk, and the 
invader now more than ever realised that he had fallen into 
a trap. 

Napoleon stayed three days at Smolensk, and collected 
there the whole of his force. It was impossible, however, to 
remain in the city ; his only course was to retreat as soon as 
possible. Wittgenstein and Chichagov would soon join 
their forces. Miloradovich and Platov had forced Ney to 
fight ten battles in as many days. 

On the fourth day after coming to Smolensk Napoleon 
moved with his guards to Krasnoe, and ordered the remain- 
ing regiments to follow at once. The commander of the last 
regiment was ordered on going out of the town to burn every- 
thing which could not be carried away, and to blow up the 
walls and towers of the city. 

On the 17th of November, on a starry and frosty night, the 
last French regiment defiled out of Smolensk, once the great 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 327 

frontier city of the Dnieper. At the same hour a glare was 
seen in the sky, and loud explosions were heard. No fewer 
than eight towers were blown up, and the old walls of the 
fortress were destroyed in many places. Some of these 
fissures remain to the present time. Many buildings which 
escaped the flames were demolished by the inhabitants 
themselves, who used the stones for building purposes. 
Smolensk thus became a heap of ruins, and the number 
of inhabitants was reduced to 700, 2000 sick and wounded 
of the French force being left to their fate. 

The last detachment of the French army which had de- 
stroyed the walls of Smolensk, under the command of 
Ney, had great difficulty in reaching Napoleon. With 8000 
infantry, 300 cavalry, 12 guns, and 7000 unarmed men, 
surrounded on all sides by the Russians, Ney made a bold 
effort, expecting to find the Emperor at Krasnoe. Not 
many miles from this place they came upon the Corps of 
Miloradovich. An engagement took place and Miloradovich 
seeing the difficult position Ney was in, sent a flag of 
truce, proposing that he should lay down his arms. Ney, 
however, resolved to force his way through the Russian 
position at the point of the bayonet, with the result 
that he lost half his force, and was driven with the 
remnant to the Dnieper. Ney, however, did not lose 
heart. He collected his troops, to the number of about 
3000, and, moving by cross roads to Orsha, got to the 
right bank of the Dnieper by crawling upon the thin ice. 
Everywhere his men were half buried in snow. In front of 
Orsha he was met by Platov with his Cossacks. Destruc- 
tion now seemed inevitable, but Ney formed his men into 
two squares, sent his sharpshooters in front, and made for 
the village of Yakubovo. Here he occupied the houses, 
and defended himself with desperate obstinacy till a French 
detachment came from Orsha to his rescue. Under their 
escort Ney brought to Napoleon, who warmly commended 
the splendid feat he had accomplished, the remains of his 
corps, consisting of 900 men. There was severe fight- 



328 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

ing at Krasnoe. According to the Russian accounts, they 
took at least 26,000 prisoners, among the number being six 
generals. They also captured 116 guns; the slain were never 
counted owing to the great depth of the snow. It was also 
difficult for the French to ascertain their losses accurately, as 
there were so many stragglers who had fallen out of the ranks 
or thrown away their arms, and others who had been killed by 
the guerillas. 

Napoleon now resolved no longer to await his last detach- 
ment, but retreated at full speed upon Orsha, still following 
the line of the Dnieper. This place is remarkable in the 
annals of Slavonic warfare, for it was here that the Russians 
had been defeated by the Poles in 1513. The sufferings of 
the French now became greatly increased, and the cold more 
severe than ever. Many threw away their weapons, which 
were only an encumbrance, while, as the starving horses died 
by thousands, a great quantity of the cavalry had to be dis- 
mounted, and the artillery had to abandon their useless guns. 
The starving men greedily devoured the horseflesh. Every- 
where was snow, everywhere the same pitiless sky, with the 
Russians ever pursuing them and cutting off the stragglers. 
Sometimes they would light fires, into which they leaped mad 
with agony. Their ranks were getting thinner and thinner. 

The French now began to lose all order and discipline. 
The men of different regiments and nationalities marched 
confusedly and rather after the fashion of an unarmed mob 
than disciplined troops. Their clothes were ill-fitted for such 
severe weather. Their feet were not properly protected, and 
suffered greatly from the frosts. Many were without boots. 
The wretched men arrayed themselves as best they could in 
their plunder, some wearing the heavy priests' dresses, but 
these only encumbered them, enfeebled as they were through 
insufficient food and constant marching. They wrapped their 
legs with rags and handkerchiefs, and the debris of female 
attire \ but the handkerchiefs became wet and stiff, and hin- 
dered them in walking. Sometimes Napoleon himself was 
to be seen, as Verestchagin has painted him, grotesquely 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 329 

wrapped up in a woman's pelisse. The little towns through 
which the troops passed could not furnish any supplies of 
thick wearing apparel or boots. They had been plundered 
and burnt when the army passed through them at the 
beginning of the campaign ; and the tradesmen and peasants 
had carefully hidden whatever had been left. The Russians, 
meanwhile, were perpetually harassing them ; and the in- 
furiated villagers committed all kinds of atrocities, frequently 
burying their captives alive. In short, the invading army 
was rapidly melting away: the men died like flies from 
hunger and cold, while many were ready to take their chance 
in captivity. Kutuzov was wise, in that he forbore to engage 
Napoleon in a general battle. He was no match for the 
military genius of the latter. Fabian tactics alone could 
save Russia, which now seemed one vast charnel-house. 

In a field close by Vitebsk Napoleon reviewed his beloved 
guard. It consisted entirely of Frenchmen. The ranks were 
thinned, and the men looked worn out. The Emperor was 
dressed in a shuba, but his army was in rags. He still kept 
up his spirits in spite of the difficult journey before him. 
He was like a wolf at bay. From the cavalry which remained 
he formed a special regiment, but even in this detachment 
the men were soon obliged to eat their horses. On their 
way from Orsha there was a slight thaw. 

In order to hamper the Russians, who were following 
them, the French burnt the villages on every side, and so 
eager were they to do this that the leading regiments 
frequently left nothing for those that followed. In order to 
secure his passage over the Berezina, Napoleon ordered 
Marshal Oudinot at all costs to get possession of the town 
of Borisov, and Oudinot carried out his instructions. 

Chichagov, with 20,000 soldiers, was driven to the other 
bank of the Berezina, and on retreating destroyed the bridge 
behind him. He then established a powerful battery under 
the command of Dombrovski. Oudinot, meanwhile, spread 
abroad reports that Napoleon would cross below Borisov, 
and sent thither material for building a bridge, so as to 



330 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

lead Chichagov to suppose that he would have to en- 
counter the French there. But Studianka was really the place 
at which Napoleon was aiming. Owing to some blunder, 
the Russian general had not perceived this. There was only 
one regiment of infantry and a battery of artillery on the spot. 
In this way Chichagov was led into error, and the French 
were saved. Some authorities have blamed the Russian general 
for not having obtained more information as to the nature of 
the place. He has not escaped the satire of Krilov. On 
the road from Studianka to Vileika the bridges had not been 
destroyed, and the roads of fascines across the marshes and 
the river Gaina, which intersected the enemy's path, had been 
allowed to remain. 

On the road to Berezina Napoleon was joined by some 
regiments of Marshal Victor's corps. They had been sent 
by him at the beginning of the war to watch the road leading 
to St Petersburg. These detachments do not seem to have 
suffered any privations, and were in pretty good order. This 
circumstance rejoiced Napoleon, but the detachments them- 
selves were overwhelmed with horror at the condition of the 
Grande Armee. 

On the 23rd of November Napoleon ordered a number of 
the French eagles to be burnt to prevent their falling into the 
hands of the enemy. He foresaw that the passage of the 
Berezina would be difficult. On the other side of the river 
were the Russian soldiers from Borisov ; and he did not 
wish to run straight into their arms. A ford was found at 
Studianka, sixteen versts higher than Borisov. Here he 
ordered the engineer, Eble, to make a bridge. The river, 
which is described in the Russian authorities as narrow and 
slowly flowing between marshy banks with many windings, 
was then twice as broad and deep as usual owing to the 
floating ice : but the place was concealed from the Russians 
by a wood, and they failed to keep a careful watch. First 
of all, on a height commanding the passage, the French 
erected a powerful battery with fifty guns. Here was built 
on trestles the first bridge. On the 26th of November at 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 331 

one o'clock in the day, Napoleon sent across it the division of 
Dumergues, consisting of 4200 infantry and 1400 cavalry. 
As they passed him they shouted, " Vive PEmpereur ! " They 
were followed by the Junior Guards. Another bridge was 
constructed at about 200 yards distance for the guns and 
waggons, In the night the bridges were twice broken, and 
three or four hours were consumed in the repairs. On the 
morning of the 27th of November the Old Guard crossed. 
Napoleon, who, up till the time of passing over the bridge, 
remained in a ruined cottage which boasted no window, 
crossed the river about 1 p.m. and took up his quarters in 
a hamlet. On the 26th and 27th of November he watched 
the passage of the other detachments, his place being at times 
taken by Marshals Murat, Berthier and Lauriston. When 
the passage of the river began, small parties of Russians had 
tried to stop the construction of the bridge, but Napoleon 
fully realised the crisis to which he had come. He directed 
the artillery to be employed, even to the last round of 
ammunition. At the discharge of the cannon the whole 
place seemed to shake, including the huge forests behind 
which lay the Russian troops. When some of the French 
soldiers hesitated to cross and remained behind the waggons, 
Napoleon ordered the waggons to be burnt. The Russians 
came up from Borisov on the 28th, and thereupon a fierce 
battle took place between them and Partouneaux, under 
the eyes of Napoleon. There were, however, plenty of his 
soldiers still on the bank to drive the Russians back into the 
forest. The battle lasted till night-fall, but during that day 
the French lost from 15,000 to 20,000 men. What remained 
of the soldiers of Eugene Beauharnais, Davoust, and Junot, 
with the women and other fugitives, Napoleon gave into the 
care of Murat, and himself set out when there were 20 degrees 
of frost. 

By this time the Russian forces under Wittgenstein, Platov, 
and Yermolov were approaching. Ney, who commanded the 
rear-guard, led his detachment back across the bridges, leaving 
one division destined to certain destruction to protect them 



332 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

from the advancing Russians. This division, amounting to 
5000 men, was attacked on one side by Wittgenstein, and on 
the other by Platov, and finally laid down its arms. 

The remains of the corps of Ney now moved across the 
river, and after him came Murat's broken cavalry, with his 
infantry of whom only half had arms. Last of all came the 
remains of the corps of Davoust, and with them a disorderly 
mob of unarmed fugitives. 

Under the strain of such a host the bridges broke, and 
thousands, including women and children, were precipitated 
into the river. Some climbed on to the blocks of ice and 
endeavoured to keep themselves afloat. The bridges were 
repaired by men standing in the water, but the people again 
crowded them and fell into the river. Wittgenstein now 
attacked. He posted his batteries, and began to shell the 
fugitives. 

The French defended themselves with the courage of 
despair, but there was inconceivable panic on the bridges ; 
the crowds pressed and trampled on each other. The 
Russian artillery ploughed through whole ranks, until the 
night put a stop to the fighting. Then under cover of 
the darkness the last soldiers forced a way for themselves 
among the seething masses of their unarmed comrades. 
Many of these unfortunate creatures remained by the 
smoking heaps of the baggage. Here one might be seen 
stiffened by the frost : another baked by a huge fire ; 
another had gone out of his mind, and could not be 
induced to stir from the place. 

Thousands were still crowding to get over, when the 
retreating rearguard set fire to both bridges, and the groans 
and curses of the sufferers were borne to the ears of Napoleon 
as he retreated. The prisoners taken were so numerous that 
they could not be counted. Men and women clothed in rags 
begged if it were but for a piece of bread, tendering in ex- 
change their watches, rings and money. The Cossacks, among 
other property, got possession of 40 pouds of silver which' the 
fugitives had looted from the churches, and were taking 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 333 

away with them. This was given to the Kazan Cathedral at 
St Petersburg, and from it was made an ikonostas. 

It has been always a subject of controversy why Napoleon 
was allowed to leave Russia. Was Chichagov really to 
blame, or was it resolved to let Napoleon go in view of 
the fact that Russia would not have known what to do 
with him as prisoner? 

On the 31st of July Chichagov had been ordered to go 
to Volhynia to Tormasov through Yassy, Khotin, Stari 
Konstantinov and Dubno, and on his way he was to arouse 
the Hungarian Slovaks against Austria, which he was sup- 
posed to be able to do. The armies united on the river 
Styr. They wished to cut the corps of Schwarzenberg from 
Austria. But after battles at Luck on September 22nd, 
and Riezhitsi on September 29th, the Austrians guessed 
his plan, and retreated nearer to the frontier to Drogichino. 

The journey, from the Berezina to the river Niemen, 
extending to almost 350 versts, was the most terrible and 
deadly for the French of the whole retreat. The frost 
reached 30 Reaumur. The breath was almost stopped 
by the cold, and it was hardly possible to speak. In one 
division of 10,000 men, 7000 perished by frost alone. If 
only a few Russian soldiers had been posted on the heights 
behind the Berezina, not a Frenchman would have reached 
Vilna. But the Russians themselves, although they had 
warmer clothes than the invaders, suffered a great deal from 
the intense cold. Many of the common soldiers had their 
hands and feet frozen off. They made heaps of the French 
dead as shelter from the violence of the bitter wind, but this 
did not help them much. The hungry and lean horses could 
scarcely draw the guns. Realising the imminent destruction 
of his army, Napoleon now began to think how he was to 
escape being personally captured. On December 3rd he 
arrived at Maledeczno, where he issued his famous bulletin. 
The truth could not be concealed any longer. This was the 
twenty-ninth bulletin which he had issued during the journey. 
On December 6th, without going to Vilna, he bade adieu to 



334 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

his chief marshals, and told some of them that he was going 
to France for 300,000 more soldiers. But all Europe now 
knew of his gigantic failure. At Smorgoni he handed over 
the command of the army to Murat, and hurried out of the 
country, accompanied by a small detachment of Neapolitan 
cavalry. A little comedy was enacted on this occasion. 
Napoleon affected to wish to stay, and his generals urged 
him to go. Eventually he seemed to yield to their solicita- 
tions, but the farce had been all arranged beforehand. He 
was in his carriage with Caulaincourt, his Mameluke, and 
Captain Wasowicz, a Pole, who was employed as an interpreter. 
A sledge followed with Duroc and Lobau. Of this scene a 
humorous picture has been preserved. 

On the morning of the 13th of December, says Labaume, 
out of 400,000 men who had crossed the Niemen at the open- 
ing of the campaign, scarcely 20,000 repassed it, of whom at 
least two-thirds had not seen the Kremlin. The 80,000, to 
which some swell the number, is made up by including the 
regiments afterwards sent to assist Napoleon. 

Arrived at the opposite bank of the river, continues 
Labaume, like ghosts from the infernal regions, we looked 
behind us fearfully after crossing the bridge. The fugitives 
turned to the left to go to Gumbinnen for Lithuania. Many 
thought that they were to march to Tilsit, mistaking some 
orders which had been given. They were obliged to climb a 
great height, and in consequence a fine park of artillery which 
had lately come from Kovno had to be abandoned. It was at 
Gumbinnen that Ney, who brought up the rearguard of the 
retreating host, presented himself to his companions, but so 
smoke-dried and haggard, that at first they could not recognise 
him. In addition to other booty, six million francs in silver 
fell into the hands of the Russians. 

When the French soldiers arrived in Poland they dispersed 
like ordinary travellers. Soon afterwards the Cossacks entered 
Kovno and passed the Niemen, which was completely frozen 
over. They then spread themselves over the immense plains 
of Poland, where they massacred or made prisoners many 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 335 

of the French soldiers, who, not thinking that the Russians 
would cross the Niemen, had imagined themselves to be now 
safe. Some of the fugitives escaped to Danzig. The Saxons, 
under Regnier, were routed and dispersed in a final engage- 
ment at Kalisch, and Poniatowski and the Poles retired to 
Cracow, protected by Schwarzenberg. The Prussians were 
now the only hope of the French. These did nothing, how- 
ever, and York, their commander, even concluded a treaty 
of neutrality with Diebitsch. This the King of Prussia at 
first disavowed, but as soon as he was out of the power of 
the French, York was rewarded. 

Some of the fugitives took the road to Thorn : the vice- 
roy, Eugene Beauharnais, sent from Gumbinnen an order to 
Konigsberg that those of the 4th Corps who had taken the 
road to Tilsit should proceed to Marienwerder. The King 
of Naples (Murat) was very coldly received by the authorities 
at Konigsberg. The star of the invader was no longer in the 
ascendant. 

Leaving, however, for a time the victims of this mad 
expedition, whether invaders or invaded, let us follow the 
flying Caesar and his fortunes. On the 10th of December 
Napoleon reached Warsaw, where he took up his quarters 
at the Hotel d'Angleterre. He immediately sent for his 
ambassador. This was De Pradt, the Archbishop of Malines, 
whom he had employed in various intrigues. He had sent 
him on one occasion to stir up the Polish diet at Warsaw. 
"Suddenly," said De Pradt, "the door of my study opened, 
and before me stood a man leaning on one of my secretaries. 
The head of the new comer was wrapped in a piece of black 
cloth. His face was concealed by his shuba ; his feet could 
hardly move in his heavy winter boots. ' Follow me/ said 
this terrible personage. I rose up and went to him ; it was 
Caulaincourt. ' What ! is that you ? ' I cried out ; ' where 
is the Emperor ? ' 'In the Hotel dAngleterre ; he expects 
you.' 'Why did he not stop in the palace?' 'He does 
not wish to be recognised.' ' Whither are you going in 
such a dress?' 'To Paris.' 'And the army?' 'The 



336 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isi2 

army,'* said he, raising his eyes to heaven, ■ the army does 
not exist any longer.' ' And how about the victory at the 
Berezina, and the six thousand Russians taken prisoners by 
General Bassano ? " ' We crossed the Berezina, but we 
could not keep the prisoners.' ' M. le Due,' said I, taking 
Caulaincourt by the hand, * it is time to think of our position ; 
the true servants of the Emperor ought to tell him the truth.' 
' Yes ; it is a terrible calamity,' answered he. ' At all 
events I cannot reproach myself; I prophesied it. Only, let 
us go; the Emperor expects us." 

" I hurried out of the house, almost ran along the streets, 
and finally stopped at the gates of the hotel. It was about 
half-past one o'clock. A Polish police officer was keeping 
guard. The proprietor of the hotel looked cautiously at me, 
thought for a minute, and then allowed me to enter. At the 
door I noticed a little carriage, rudely constructed, and in a 
very dilapidated state. Two sledges were with it. And this 
was what remained of so much splendour and magnificence, 
thought I at that moment. Before me a door opened into a 
little low-pitched room. Rustan (the Mameluke) met me, 
and bade me come in. Preparations were being made for 
dinner : the Duke of Yicenza presented me to the Emperor 
and left me with him. He was in a small, cold apartment, 
with the windows half closed, the better to preserve his 
incognito. An awkward Polish maid-servant was meanwhile 
trying to make a fire with some green wood. According to 
his custom, Napoleon paced up and down the apartment. 
He had come on foot from the bridge of Praga to the Hotel 
d'Angleterre. He was wrapped in a handsome pelisse, with 
a fur cap on his head." 

After De Pladt, the ambassador, had expressed the satis- 
faction he felt on seeing the Emperor safely back again, he 
frankly put before Napoleon the condition of the empire. 
Only that morning De Pradt had heard of an affair on the 
Bug near Krislov, in which two newly raised battalions had 
thrown down their arms on the second discharge. He had 
also been informed that out of 1200 horses belonging to 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 337 

these troops, 800 had been lost from want of care on the 
part of the new soldiers, and that 5000 Russians with many 
guns were marching on Zamosc. In conclusion, the Abbe 
began to speak of the wretched condition of the Poles, but 
Napoleon would not hear him to the end, and asked, in a 
quick way : "What has ruined them? " "The bad crops of 
last year, your Highness ; all trade is at a standstill." At these 
words the eyes of Napoleon expressed annoyance. He went 
on to ask, " Where are the Russians ? " De Pradt told him. 
"And the Austrians?" The Abbe answered that question 
also. " For two weeks I have heard nothing of them," said 
Napoleon. De Pradt then informed him of the sacrifices 
which the Grand Duchy had made (as Poland was then 
called), and then continued to speak of the Polish army. 
" I saw nothing of it during the whole campaign," Napoleon 
said. De Pradt explained the cause to him : " The army 
was divided, and in consequence of the division achieved but 
little." Napoleon wished Count Stanislaus Potocki and the 
Minister of Finance to be brought to him after dinner. 
When they congratulated him on coming safe out of so many 
dangers his only answer was, " Dangers are nothing at all ; 
agitation is life to me. The more trouble I have the better 
I am." He declared his intention of raising 300,000 men 
and, after having fought the Russians on the Oder, marching 
on the Niemen again. He then laughed at the Admiral 
Chichagov, whose name he said he could never pronounce. 
After a pause, he mounted the humble carriage and dis- 
appeared. 

As we have already seen, vast numbers of the French had 
been taken prisoners at Smolensk; at Kovno there were 
taken 15,000 more and 40 guns. Close by Kovno Platov 
had taken a great deal of the remaining baggage and their 
military chest. Had not Ney remained in his entrenchments 
till he was sure that the Cossacks could not attack him in the 
rear, not an invader would have escaped from Russia. It 
was calculated that the Russians had quite 200,000 prisoners, 
or vimoroski, frozen out, as they were called. 

Y 



338 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

More than a thousand cannon were abandoned, a hundred 
standards, and an immense quantity of baggage. Huge piles 
of these cannons now adorn the public squares at Moscow. 
The iron cross of Ivan-Veliki, as has been said, was restored. 
English travellers who visited the country soon after the 
expulsion of Napoleon, have given us graphic pictures both 
by pencil and pen of the condition of Moscow when 
abandoned. Of the splendid palaces of the Menshikovs, 
the Apraksins, and others, only the ruined walls were to be 
seen. One writer says, "All was now in the same forlorn 
condition : street after street greeted the eye with perpetual 
ruin, disjointed columns, mutilated porticoes, broken cupolas, 
walls of rugged stucco black, discoloured with the stains of 
fire, and open on every side to the sky, formed a hideous 
contrast to the picture which travellers had drawn of the 
grand and sumptuous palaces of Moscow." It appears 
by the official accounts that before the fire the wooden 
houses amounted in number to 6591, and those built of 
stone or brick to 2567; of the former, when the French 
evacuated the city, only 2100 were remaining, and of the 
latter, 526. 

James, in his interesting " Travels," describes the field 
of Borodino as being literally strewn with caps, feathers, 
scabbards, pieces of camp kettles, scraps of uniform both 
French and Russian. The Russian Government caused large 
fires to be lighted upon the field and other places, in which 
the dead bodies were burnt. The statement, however, of a 
Russian historian will best enable us to realise what she had 
suffered in this war. At the time of the invasion the number 
of Russian troops stationed along the western frontier, from 
Finland to the Danube, amounted to 400,000 men ; during 
the time of the war large reserves were formed of recruits, 
a powerful militia was created, and the Cossacks of the Don 
were armed. These troops, who by degrees all came to take 
a share in the War of the Fatherland (ptechestvennaya voina) 
as it is called, were towards the conclusion of the campaign 
consolidated into one body under the flag of Kutuzov : but 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 339 

Kutuzov did not succeed in bringing to the banks of the 
Niemen more than 100,000 men. In his main army, made 
up of the soldiers of Barclay de Tolly and Bagration and 
at last strengthened by the reserves, the militia, and the 
Cossacks, there were not as many as 40,000 men. Many 
of the last had been killed in fight, many perished unarmed 
in the towns and villages, being either burnt in their dwellings 
or cut down by the sword of the invader, or perishing through 
hunger, cold and disease. In the Government of Smolensk 
a census which was made in 18 16 revealed a deficiency of 
60,000 peasants when compared to the census of 181 1. The 
losses of property were immense : all the towns and villages 
from Vilna to Moscow were devastated by fire and sword as 
if overwhelmed by a torrent of lava; the losses sustained 
by private individuals in the Government of Moscow alone 
amounted to 280 millions of roubles. "And who," patheti- 
cally adds the Russian writer, " can estimate the loss of the 
historical monuments of our country ? " 

It would therefore seem to be unfair to blame the 
Russians for unseemly boasting when their poets, Pushkin, 
Lermontov, and others in many well-known productions, 
exult over the issue of this invasion. Hercules, indeed, fell 
powerless in the struggle and left his club as a trophy. 

Alexander does not seem, however, to have been satisfied 
with Kutuzov. although the latter naturally became the 
national hero. He said of him at Vilna : " Le vieillard doit 
etre content ; le froid Fa Men servi." Sir Robert Wilson, 
who accompanied the Russian army in the campaign, says 
that on the 26th of December (his birthday), Alexander sent 
for him and said : " General, I have called you into my 
cabinet to make a painful confession, but I rely upon your 
honour and prudence. I wished to have avoided it, but I 
could not bear to appear inconsistent in your estimate of my 
proceedings, which I must be thought if my motives be not 
explained. 

"I must , however, first assure you of my great satisfaction 
with your conduct during your residence with my armies; 



340 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1812 

and also thank you for your correspondence, which in justice 
to yourself I have directed to be deposited in my archives. 
The consequences which have flowed from your devotion to 
my interests when the conference was proposed at Tarutino, 
were of great benefit to them, and your communications have 
enabled me to prevent much other mischief. 

" You have always told me truth — truth I could not obtain 
through any other channel. 

" I know that the Marshal (Kutuzov) has done nothing he 
ought to have done — nothing against the enemy that he could 
avoid. All his successes have been forced upon him. He 
has been playing some of his old Turkish tricks, but the 
nobility of Moscow support him, and insist upon his becom- 
ing the national hero of this war. In half an hour I must 
therefore — and he paused for a minute — decorate this man 
with the great Order of St George, and by so doing commit 
a trespass on its institution, for it is the highest honour and 
hitherto the purest of the Empire. But I will not ask you 
to be present. I should feel too much humiliated if you 
were so ; but I have no choice, I must submit to a controlling 
necessity. I will, however, not again leave my army, and 
there shall be no opportunity given for additional misdirection 
by the Marshal. 

" He is an old man, and therefore I would have you show 
him suitable courtesies, and not refuse them when offered on 
his part. 

" I wish to put an end to every appearance of ill-will, and 
to take from this day a new departure, which I mean to make 
one of gratitude to Providence and of grace to all." 

Wilson adds : " His Imperial Majesty then said that he 
should distribute rewards to his generals and brave soldiers 
who had done their duty heroically; and that he had signed 
an act of amnesty and general pardon, so that everyone 
under his rule might participate in the joy he felt at the 
triumph of his country." This amnesty was full and com- 
plete, "embracing even all his Polish subjects who had 
joined the enemy." 



1812] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER t. 341 

"The past is condemned to an eternal oblivion and 
silence; all are prohibited from reviving any reference to 
these affairs. Those only who continue in the service of the 
enemy after the expiration of two months shall be condemned, 
never to return to Russia again." 

These words of the Emperor Sir Robert Wilson justly 
extols. Indeed the conduct of Alexander throughout the 
war seems to have been most noble. His proclamations are 
models of dignity and firmness. 



[1813 



CHAPTER XII 

THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I.— Continued 

/ 

VJAPOLEON soon quitted Warsaw and, passing through 
■^ Dresden in disguise, reached Paris on the 18th of 
December. He recovered his ardour, and raised a fresh 
army of 300,000 men in the beginning of 1813. But by 
this time Alexander was prepared to assume the offensive. 
By the 28th of February he had succeeded in inducing 
Frederick William of Prussia to sign the treaty of Kalisch 
by which he pledged himself to assist Russia. England was 
already willing to help. This was the sixth great coalition 
against Napoleon. We are compelled to omit those battles 
fought in Northern Germany in which the Russians were not 
concerned. They were, however, together with the Prussians, 
defeated by Napoleon at Liitzen and at Bautzen ; in the 
latter of these engagements Alexander commanded in person. 
Napoleon, however, agreed to an armistice at Pleisswitz on 
the 4th of June 1813 ; and the Russians availed themselves 
of the opportunity to reinforce, and more than 60,000 fresh 
troops reached the seat of war from the south and the middle 
of Russia. 

Austria now, after considerable hesitation, went over to 
the allies. After defeating Schwarzenberg at the battle of 
Dresden, Napoleon was himself completely routed by the 
allies at the great battle of Leipzig which lasted three days, 
October 16th, 18th, 19th — die Volkerschlacht, as it has been 
called. It was here that Prince Poniatowski, the nephew of 
Stanislaus the last King of Poland, was drowned in the Elster. 
The allies now marched steadily upon Paris. On the 28th 
of April 18 1 3, Kutuzov died at Bunzlau, and was buried in 
343 



1814] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 343 

the Kazan Cathedral at St Petersburg. At the close of the 
year the allied sovereigns offered peace to Napoleon; the 
boundaries of France were to be the Rhine, the Alps and 
the Pyrenees. These overtures, however, were rejected by 
Napoleon. 

In January 18 14 the allied armies entered French territory, 
and furnished Napoleon with occasion to display his great 
military talents. At Montmirail and again at Nangis the 
Russians were defeated, and although Schwarzenberg had 
merely to effect a junction with Bliicher, he nevertheless 
resolved to retreat. Napoleon was in reality relying upon 
his own masterly tactics and disagreement among the allies. 
Bliicher, however, with the approval of the Emperor Alex- 
ander, resolved to march on Paris. After a battle at Craon, 
which was indecisive, the combined forces of Russia and 
Prussia succeeded in defeating the French at Laon. Then 
came the two battles of Fere-Champenoise, and at length, 
after gallantly storming the heights of Montmartre where 
they lost many men, the Russians entered Paris with the 
other allied troops on March 31st, 18 14. These events 
culminated in the treaty of Fontainebleau, by which 
Napoleon consented to abdicate and retire to the island of 
Elba. It will be necessary to review these events briefly. 

The Tsar, having Prince Schwarzenberg on his right and 
the King of Prussia on his left, made his triumphant entry 
into Paris at the head of 50,000 men. Although the wealthy 
classes applauded, the bulk of the people were disaffected to 
the Bourbons. It was a performance only for the boxes : the 
pit and gallery were unsympathetic. On the 1st of April a 
declaration, countersigned by Nesselrode, told the French 
that the allied sovereigns would enter into no more dealings 
with Napoleon Bonaparte nor with any member of his family. 

Even the French acknowledge that the Tsar made a 
generous use of his rights as conqueror in view of the 
sufferings that Russia had undergone during the occupation 
of Moscow and the devastation of their territory. 

On his return to Russia Alexander was received with 



344 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [ish 

rapture by his people. The Senate wished to confer upon 
him the title of " the Blessed," but he had the good sense to 
refuse such an appellation. It would be beyond the scope 
of this book to recapitulate all the enactments of the Congress 
of Vienna, which lasted from September 20th, 1814, to June 
10th, 1815. We must confine ourselves to those which 
more immediately concerned Russia. Alexander insisted 
on retaining the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, which he in- 
tended to re-establish as the constitutional kingdom of 
Poland. In this he was opposed by Lord Castlereagh who 
was apprehensive of the aggrandisement of Russia. Austria 
laid claim to the city of Cracow, declaring that she had been 
despoiled of it by the treaty of Schonbrunn. Eventually it 
was settled that Cracow, with a certain amount of territory 
appropriated to it, should form an independent republic 
under the protection of Austria, Prussia and Russia: and 
so it remained till 1846. A portion of Poland was assigned 
to Prussia under [the title of the Grand Duchy of Posen 
(Poznan), and Danzig was also confirmed to her. The 
proceedings of the congress were suddenly interrupted by 
the return of Napoleon from Elba, and the brief campaign 
which followed, known as the Hundred Days. With these 
events, however, Russia had in reality nothing to do. Russia 
could not send her troops in time to be present at the 
battle of Waterloo. Afterwards when France was parcelled out 
among the armies of occupation, Champagne and Lorraine 
were the territories assigned to her. The Russian Emperor, 
who had during his whole life been largely influenced by the 
liberal views with which he had been indoctrinated by his 
Swiss tutor, Laharpe, had, as we have said, formed the plan 
of governing Poland as a constitutional monarchy. He 
was for a time much under the influence of Prince Adam 
Czartoryski. But it was obvious from the very first that such 
an arrangement would present great difficulties. The union 
between an ancient autocracy and the oligarchical constitu- 
tiojialism of the Poles was unnatural, and was soon found to 
be so. In 1 81 5 the so-called Holy Alliance was formed, and 



1815] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 345 

in this the Tsar found a scope for that religious mysticism 
which was a great element in his character, and which he 
owed in large measure to a strange enthusiast, Mme. de 
Krudener. 

The first Polish diet assembled at Warsaw in 1818, and 
the Grand Duke Constantine, the Emperor's brother, was 
made commander-in-chief of the Polish forces. 

The Emperor was unfortunate in his plan of the formation 
of military colonies, which would seem to have been suggested 
by Arakcheev. This man had been enabled to maintain 
under Alexander the influence which he had enjoyed under 
Paul. His name, however, is to this day remembered in 
Russia with great hatred, although he cannot be said to have 
done so much mischief as Biren did in the reign of Anne. 

The idea of the military colonies seems to have been taken 
to some extent from the arrangement of the Austrian so-called 
military frontier. It was supposed that by settling certain 
regiments among the crown peasants the soldier colonist 
could work on the land and thus contribute to his own 
support. Thus there would be good centres for recruiting 
the army and a system of military training could be diffused 
over the country. The plan was gradually extended to the 
whole army. The colonies, however, became odious to the 
peasants, who saw in them military supervision brought to 
bear upon the relationships of private life. 

The system was first tried in 1816 on a small scale at 
Smolensk, then in the governments nearer to the capital, 
and finally among the Cossacks in the south ; but everywhere 
it met with great opposition, especially among those last- 
named, who had always enjoyed peculiar privileges ; in fact 
serfdom among them had been unknown till the reign of 
Paul. Gradually, however, the ill-timed endeavours were 
allowed to drop. 

Arakcheev lost his influence when Nicholas came to the 
throne, and retired to his estate at Gruzino in the govern- 
ment of Novgorod, where he ruled his own peasants with 
true military despotism. There he established a kind 



346 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isle 

of cult of the Emperor Alexander, who occasionally visited 
him. 

At the present time (1900) a voluminous life of that 
Emperor is in course of publication in Russia, the funds for 
which were bequeathed by Arakcheev at his death. 

Difficulties, too, soon began to be felt with reference to 
Poland. Alexander had at first acted with a liberal spirit. 
He had even appointed as viceroy General Zaionchek 
(Zajaczek), a retired Napoleonic officer. Those Poles who 
had served in the army of the invader had been all amnestied. 
But in reality all power was in the hands of the Grand Duke 
Constantine, a rigid martinet, and Novosiltsov, a very re- 
actionary Russian minister. More than three years had 
elapsed since a diet had been summoned. It soon became 
obvious that the Emperor, however benevolent his designs 
may have been, was unable to carry them out, and was sur- 
rounded by forces beyond his control. The liberal counsels 
of the minister Speranski were set aside, he himself was 
banished, his place being taken by Arakcheev and Novo- 
siltsov. This change of attitude on the part of Alexander 
was indeed remarkable. Some writers have not hesitated 
to explain his conduct by what they call his natural 
duplicity, and we know that Napoleon said of him that 
he was as false as a Byzantine Greek. But the truth 
seems to have been that his weak character was swayed 
hither and thither and too readily influenced by his sur- 
roundings. 

The reactionary period lasted till his death. He was the 
slave of a strange kind of religious mysticism, of which we 
have previously spoken, and to which the Slavonic character 
seems especially liable ; and he was, moreover, entangled in 
the political system of Metternich. The arrogant Arakcheev, 
who was generally called the "cursed serpent," had un- 
bounded power over his master. All the other ministers 
were insignificant in comparison with him. Through him 
alone the Emperor could be approached, and the most 
influential persons in the country were to be seen waiting in 



1816] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 34; 

the ante-chamber of the favourite till such time as he chose 
to summon them. 

The young wife of Nicholas, afterwards the Empress 
Alexandra Feodorovna, on coming to Russia, was astonished 
at the universal subserviency shown towards this favourite, 
and has recorded it in her Memoirs, parts of which have been 
recently published. 

According to the account which Arakcheev himself gave, 
the idea of the military colonies really originated with the 
Emperor ; but if such was the case, the favourite, to please 
his master, was not slow in" carrying it into effect, and asso- 
ciating therewith many cruelties of which his master knew 
nothing. According to some authorities, even before the 
experiment in the government of Novgorod, a first attempt to 
form these colonies had been made as early as 18 10 by plant- 
ing a battalion of musketeers in the government of Mogilev. 
Arakcheev wrote to tell his master that all was going well, 
when the plan was interrupted by the Napoleonic war. 
When peace was once more restored the scheme was revived, 
and a battalion of grenadier guards was settled in the govern- 
ment of Novgorod, on the river Volkhov. Everywhere, in 
spite of all opposition, orders for the formation of the military 
colonies continued to be issued, and before the end of the 
reign they were widely diffused over the empire, and com- 
prised fully a third of the army. 

The plan, however, was unanimously disapproved by the 
leading men of Russia, and the miserable peasants made all 
the resistance of which they were capable at Gruzino, the 
estate of Arakcheev ; those who resisted were cruelly beaten. 
The villagers of the government of Novgorod sent a deputation 
to St Petersburg to complain to the Emperor, but Arakcheev 
caused them to be arrested before they could get an oppor- 
tunity of stating their grievances. When the Grand Duke 
Nicholas, afterwards Emperor, was returning to St Peters- 
burg by way of Novgorod in company with his brother-in- 
law, Prince William of Prussia, afterwards the Emperor 
William I., the peasants again took the opportunity of 



348 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i8is 

complaining; but on this occasion also fruitlessly. Riots 
continued to occur not only among the peasants, but also 
among the soldiers quartered among them. These last 
were severely punished, as at Chugnev in 1819, where 275 
men were compelled to run the gauntlet, of which some 
died. 

But in strange contrast to these fancied reforms were 
the efforts which were made at the same time to emanci- 
pate the serfs. Alexander was a humane man, and seems 
to have greatly encouraged plans of this sort. In the Baltic 
provinces in the years 181 7-19, emancipation of the peasants 
was introduced, but without any assignment of land being 
made to them. Alexander expressed his sympathy with all 
these measures. He praised the landowners, remarking that 
in their wish to set free their peasants, they were acting in 
the spirit of the times, and understood that the happiness 
of people was grounded on liberal ideas. The Emperor is 
even said to have written a paper on the gradual abolition 
of serfdom in Russia, although the ultimate fate of this 
document is unknown. 

In 1 81 8 Alexander put forth a statement on this subject, but 
it appears to have been entrusted to the " accursed serpent," 
who contrived to get it shelved. As far back as the year 1807 
Alexander had said to Savary, " I wish to bring the country 
out of that barbarous condition in which this trade in human 
beings keeps it ; I will say more ! If education were sufficiently 
developed I would destroy serfdom even if it cost me my 
life." 

Next to Arakcheev, the most influential person with the 
Emperor was Prince A. Golitsin. He also was steeped in 
mysticism. The more liberal professors were now banished 
from the Universities. Two other people who greatly en- 
couraged the Emperor in his reactionary views, were Michael 
Magnitski and Dimitri Runich. 

The most complete inquisitorial system was pursued with 
reference to the students. Parrot, the liberal professor of the 
University of Dorpat, had the courage to write a letter of 



1818] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 349 

remonstrance to the Emperor, but the protest remained 
without effect. Magnitski continued this mischievous inter- 
ference till Nicholas came to the throne, when he was dis- 
missed 1 the new Emperor also refusing to see Arakcheev. 
Magnitski, however, was eclipsed by the extraordinary ecclesi- 
astic Photius. This man had set on foot a crusade against 
the liberal and somewhat Protestant tendencies of Alexander, 
and the permission given to the Bible Society to carry on its 
labours. Photius was anxious that a more Orthodox tone 
should prevail. Peter Spasski, for that was his name, as a 
layman, had assumed airs of great austerity. He was made 
archimandrite of the Yuriev monastery at Novgorod, and was 
very much assisted in his ministration by the rich Countess 
Orlov, a devote, who placed her vast wealth at his disposal. 
The masonic lodges were closed in Russia by his order. On 
one occasion the archimandrite anathematised Golitsin in such 
unmeasured language, that the latter sent in his resignation 
to the Emperor, who, however, refused to accept it entirely, 
and still kept him about his person. 

Admiral Shishkov was made Minister of Public Instruction. 
He also was a reactionary; his name frequently occurs in 
the literary history of the time. Notwithstanding the markedly 
liberal speeches which the Emperor had made in the Polish 
diet, he was destined to fall under the influence of Metternich 
and the Holy Alliance. In 18 18 he talked of the introduction 
of constitutional government into Russia, and the restoration 
to Poland of those provinces which had been taken by the 
Russians in earlier times. The scheme of a constitution for 
Russia was even formulated in a paper, entitled, " Imperial 
Charter for the Russian Empire " {Gosudarstvennaya Gra??wta 
Rossiiskoi Imperii). Subsequent troubles, and the reaction- 
ary influences at work in the mind of the Emperor, seem to 
have prevented the realisation of this plan, although Speranski 
spoke of it as certain to come to pass. It exists, however, 
only as an historical document. The Polish insurrectionists 
found it among some Government papers in 1830, and in the 
following year caused 2000 copies to be struck off at Warsaw. 



350 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i824 

When Paskievitch took Warsaw he found about 1578 copies 
remaining, and sent them to the Emperor Nicholas, who 
caused them to be burnt in the courtyard of the arsenal. A 
German translation of this interesting document was printed 
in the Historische Zeitschrift for 1894, and N. Schindler 
has added it as a supplement to the fourth volume of his 
" Life of Alexander," recently published. 

Alexander took a part in the congresses of Aix-la-Chapelle, 
Tropau, Laibach and Verona, and threw himself entirely into 
the reactionary movements which those congresses dictated. 
Everywhere liberal ideas were to be crushed. Alexander even 
sent an army under Yermolov to Piedmont to suppress an 
insurrection ; but the Austrians settled matters there without 
the employment of Russian bayonets. The principles, how- 
ever, of the Holy Alliance prevented the Russian Emperor 
from assisting the Greeks in their noble struggles against the 
Turks. In fact all peoples were to obey their legitimate 
masters. Tricoupi tells us that the Greeks had relied at the 
outset on Russian interference. It had been the traditional 
policy of the Tsars since the time of Peter the Great to assist 
the rayahs. Both Vladimiresco and Ipsilanti pretended that 
Alexander was indirectly supporting them. The latter, how- 
ever, was more than ever under the influence of Metternich 
after the Congress of Vienna, and ceased to correspond, as 
he had formerly done, with his liberal-minded old tutor, 
Laharpe, who had returned to Switzerland. 

Mysticism now became more powerful than ever among 
the disturbing elements of the Emperor's mind. He took it 
into his head that he was being chastened for the sins of his 
youth. When the great floods occurred at St Petersburg in 
1824 he regarded them as a direct visitation. In answer 
to the exclamation of an old man : " God punishes us for 
our sins," he cried aloud, before the assembled multitude : 
" No ! for mine." The idea of abdicating had now taken 
great hold of him. When alone in the company of his 
brother Nicholas and his wife, he would speak openly of 
looking to him as his heir. "I have resolved," he said, "to 



1825] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 351 

give up the duties imposed upon me, and to retire from the 
world." In the summer of 1825, a few months before his 
death, he told the Prince of Orange, who was then staying in 
St Petersburg, that he intended to abdicate. He had also, 
at the request of his brother Constantine, prepared the docu- 
ment by which the latter, with his consent, renounced the 
succession. When Prince Vasilchikov in 1824, on his re- 
covery from a fever, told him of the sympathy expressed by 
all St Petersburg, he remarked : " It is pleasant to believe 
this, but in reality I should not be unwilling to cast off this 
burden of a crown, which weighs heavily upon me." 

It is well known that he was deeply affected on hearing of 
the plots and secret societies existing at the time in Russia. 
When in 182 1 he was returning to Russia, after a year spent 
out of the country, General Vasilchikov informed him of the 
existence of a political plot. " Dear Vasilchikov," said the 
Emperor, "you have been in my service since the beginning 
of my reign, and know that I have shared and encouraged 
these illusions and errors. It is not for me to punish." A 
paper was found after his death in which accounts of secret 
societies were given, and upon which he had made a few 
notes. But although he knew all these distressing facts, 
Alexander would not take any decisive step. Even the 
report of Sherwood he did not act upon. This man, who 
made himself so conspicuous as an informer, and revealed 
the plot of the Dekabrists, was an Englishman who had come 
out to Russia when quite young in a very humble capacity. 
As a reward for his services he was afterwards ennobled by 
Nicholas, and had the epithet Vierni (the faithful) added to 
his name. 

Meanwhile Arakcheev was prostrated through grief at 
the loss of his housekeeper, who had been murdered by 
the peasants at Gruzino on account of her cruelty. He 
still, however, retained his influence over his master; and 
there were not wanting among the ministers those who con- 
sidered that the "cursed serpent" hastened the death of 
Alexander by sending him some very agitating reports. When 



352 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1821 

Nicholas came to the throne Arakcheev was dismissed, and 
spent the rest of his days at his estate. Although he attained 
the highest military position, it is recorded of him that he 
was never in an engagement. 

Grievous, indeed, and gloomy were the last days of the 
benevolent-minded Alexander. He told those around him 
that a ten pound weight lay on his heart, when he thought 
how much ought to be done for the inner prosperity of the 
country. Again, in spite of all the reactionary policy inspired 
by Metternich, or an Arakcheev, the Emperor felt that it 
was not for him to punish. 

To retrace somewhat our steps. At the beginning of the 
year 1818, the Emperor had visited the southern provinces 
of Russia, the Crimea, and the rising city of Odessa. This 
had been founded by Catherine on the ruins of a miserable 
Turkish village (Hadji-bey), and had been endowed with a 
name taken from classical tradition, for among the ancients 
there was an Odessus. One of the chief agents in its creation 
was the French emigre, the Due de Richelieu, whose name 
is still remembered with gratitude in the city. He was 
assisted by another French emigre, Rochechonart. 

The Greek War of Independence broke out in 182 1, but, 
as already said, the Hellenes were destined to great dis- 
appointment. In a similar manner they had been deceived 
by Catherine II., for the efforts of Alexis Orlov had led to 
nothing, and they had been obliged to settle down again 
under the Turkish yoke. Nothing even was done when, on 
the 22nd of April 182 1, the Greek patriarch, Gregory, was 
hanged at Constantinople at the gate of the patriarchate, 
although this was an outrage to the whole Orthodox Church 
of which the Tsar was in theory the protector. The body, 
however, which had been cast into the Bosphorus, was 
secretly recovered and conveyed to Odessa, where it was 
buried with great religious pomp. It was plain, however, 
that nothing would be done for the Greeks during the rule 
of Alexander. 

The second diet of Poland opened on the 13th of Sep- 



1825] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 353 

tember 1820. The country was full of secret societies which 
did not escape the notice of the all-vigilant Novosiltsov. 
One of these was organised among the students of the 
University of Vilna, then in a very flourishing condition 
owing to the eminence of some of the professors. Among 
these students were the poet Adam Mickiewicz and his 
friend Thomas Zan. The former, destined to be so cele- 
brated, was in consequence of his connexion with this secret 
society, interned in Russia. Russia herself also had her 
secret societies, the most famous of them being that known 
as the Conspiracy of the Dekabrists, or Men of December, 
the month in which the insurrection broke out on the death 
of Alexander. The details of this plot were fully known 
to the Emperor in consequence of the efforts of the spy 
Sherwood. 

Alexander had married in early life a Princess of Baden ; 
the marriage had not been a happy one, and husband and 
wife had for some time lived separately, though latterly there 
had been a rapprochement. The Emperor was anxious that 
the Empress should leave St Petersburg for a time on account 
of her health and go to Germany. This she would not con- 
sent to do, and eventually Taganrog, at the mouth of the 
Don, was chosen for her. Alexander left St Petersburg ten 
days before the Empress (September 13th, 1825), who did 
not arrive until the 5th of October, and her health soon 
showed marked improvement. The Tsar took advantage of 
this circumstance to make a short tour in the Crimea. On 
this occasion he frequently spoke of his intended abdication. 
He was struck with the scenery of the peninsula, and declared 
that he had resolved to take up his abode there. On his 
return, however, to Taganrog he was seized with a fever and 
expired on the 1st of December. 

During the earlier years of Alexander's reign some wise 
and beneficent measures had been carried out. The con- 
dition of the Serfs was much ameliorated. They were no 
longer allowed to be sold off the estate or by public auction ; 
occasionally in the Russian historical journals old notices 
z 



354 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i825 

are reprinted which were issued in the time of Paul, and show 
how full the whole system of serfdom was of all kinds of 
abuses. Alexander also accorded to the peasant oppor- 
tunities for becoming a trader should he so desire : and 
privileges were also given to tradesmen. Although education 
was so strongly repressed at the end of the reign, much had 
been done for it at the beginning. Among other educational 
establishments then founded was the Alexander Lyceum at 
Tsarskoe-Selo, where Pushkin was educated and to which he 
has consecrated so many beautiful verses. Universities were 
also established in St Petersburg, Kazan, and Kharkov. 

During the reign of Alexander Russian literature continued 
to make steady progress. Derzhavin, the laureate of Catherine, 
survived until 1816. But the classical school of which he was 
the coryphaeus had very much declined throughout Europe. 
A link between the old and new order of things was the visit 
paid by Derzhavin when very old to the Lyceum at Tsarskoe- 
Selo, and the pleasure which he took in listening to the verses of 
the youthful Pushkin. It reminds one of Pope being taken to 
see Dryden when old, whose mantle was to fall upon him. 
However much we may acknowledge the too rhetorical 
tendencies of Derzhavin, we cannot deny that he had a power- 
ful influence in the formation of a good style of Russian verse. 
The productions of Dmitriev and Batiushkovare rather weak : 
the latter, however, has considerable elegance, and in his 
writings we feel the breath of the new romanticism. He died 
as late as 1855, but had long ceased to write, having fallen 
into a state of imbecility. Zhukovski (born in 1783) belongs 
to a certain extent to the reign of Alexander, but we shall 
discuss him at greater length when we come to speak of the 
brilliant galaxy of talent which adorns the reign of Nicholas. 
The poet fought in the Russian ranks in the Great War of the 
Fatherland, as it is called (Otechestveiinaya Voifia), and in his 
" Poet in the camp of the Russian soldiers" (Pievetz v* stanie 
russkikh voinov) he praises the Russian generals at Tarutino. 
The plays of Ozerov deserve some mention j he died in 1816, 
having shown a healthy tendency towards nationalism by 



]825] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 355 

choosing subjects for his plays from Russian history, e.g. 
Dimitri Donskoi. 

The first real Russian historian was Nicholas Karamzin 
( 1 766-1826), who began to write in the reign of Catherine, 
but attained his chief fame under Alexander. His great 
history (Istoria Rossiiskago Gosudarstva), which, however, he 
did not live to carry farther than the election of Michael 
Romanov, began to appear in 1818. The author used to 
read it to the members of the Imperial Family in the "Green 
Walk " at Tsarskoe-Selo. Karamzin is deservedly noted for 
his style, which is flowing and elegant. He was the first to 
demonstrate how Russian prose should be written. He 
introduced a great many words of which the Russian 
language stood in need, and which its great strength and 
elasticity made of easy manufacture. He has been accused, 
and possibly with some justice, of throwing a false charm of 
refinement over the early Russian princes, who were rude 
soldiers, and nothing more; but this conception of history 
was characteristic of his age. The influence of Scott was 
making itself felt throughout Europe. The glamour of the 
novelist had begun to affect historians, as in the case of the 
French writers Thierry and De Barante. But the notes 
appended to the history of Karamzin show him to have been 
a great deal more than a mere rhetorical historian. He 
certainly was a researcher in the best sense of the word. Of 
his successors, Nicholas Polevoi, Sergius Soloviov, and 
Constantine Bestuzhev-Riumin, we shall speak more at 
length on a later page. 

The Emperor Alexander was a graceful man in society, 
of kindly and courtly manners, and it is pleasing to 
read, in the English memoirs of the time, how much his 
affability was contrasted with the boorish manners of 
the King of Prussia when the allied sovereigns visited 
England in 1814. The Empress survived her husband 
only five months. The poor woman seems to have had but 
few personal attractions, to judge by the account given by 
Mme. Smirnov in her very entertaining Memoirs. She 



356 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1825 

describes her as having been a little lean woman, older than 
her husband, and with spots on her face. She appears also 
to have dressed in an old-fashioned style. The vivacious 
lady adds to her description that the Empress had a very 
bad complexion, and her countenance invariably wore a 
melancholy expression. The poor woman appears to have 
died of heart disease. The Emperor was clearly never 
destined to enjoy domestic happiness. Something sad and 
depressing seemed to attach to each detail of his life, even 
where there appeared to be most brilliance and prosperity. 
It was a realisation of the Russian proverb, "a jar of honey 
with a spoonful of tar." 

' The life of Alexander puts us in mind of the heroes of 
the old Greek drama struggling to be noble but unable to 
resist the decrees of fate, and continually being driven into 
false positions, and made the instrument of calamity to 
others ; he would have made a good subject for a Thyestean 
poem. His character presents the strangest contrasts : at 
one time firm and manly, at another timid and swayed by 
every wind. In many respects it is a feminine character. 
The accusation of the insincerity which has been brought 
against him will not stand investigation : still more mistaken 
w r as the judgment of Napoleon that he was " false as a 
Byzantine Greek." The whole subject has received the 
fullest treatment in the work of Schilder, previously alluded 
to ; all available material has been there dealt with, ample 
funds having been provided by the legacy of Arakcheev, 
the Emperor's great admirer. The old literature has been 
supplemented from memoirs and private recollections. Nor 
does the author forget to investigate minutely the strange 
legend circulated among the peasantry touching his death. 
It is well known that when the body was brought to St 
Petersburg it was very much decomposed, and it was not 
considered advisable that it should be shown to the people, 
as was usually done. In consequence of this not only were 
ridiculous reports, which have been repeated by Western 
writers, circulated to the effect that the Emperor was 



1825] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I. 357 

poisoned, but a belief became prevalent among the peasantry 
that he was not dead, but had become a hermit. He was 
supposed to be the same person as the Siberian hermit, who 
died at Tomsk in 1864, about ninety years of age, and was 
called Feodor Kusmich. There was much talk of his miracles 
and prophecies. When just before his death they asked him 
what his real name was, he said, "I was born among the 
trees ; if those trees looked upon me they would bow their 
heads." 

According to the very interesting memoirs of Prince Adam 
Czartoryski (edited by A. Gielgud, London, 1888), the melan- 
choly of Alexander was caused by his having been concerned 
(although only indirectly) with the great plot which cost his 
father his life. This idea, in the words of the Prince, 
" settled like a vulture upon his conscience and paralysed 
his faculties." He also tells us that it was the fashion of the 
young men at the court to talk freely on the subject and to 
make satirical epigrams upon Paul's eccentricities. 



[1825 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 

A LTHOUGH the succession to the Russian throne had 
^~* been made by Peter the Great to depend upon the 
will of the sovereign, this principle had, by the ordinances of 
the Emperor Paul, given place to primogeniture, as being 
more in harmony with the laws of other European states. 
The heir, according to this principle, was Constantine, who 
was born in 1779, but he had renounced his claim in 1822, 
or, according to some other authorities, as early as 1820. 
There had, however, been as yet no publication of the fact. 
Constantine was a man of whom few good things are to be 
said. He is reported to have treated the Poles with great 
brutality, and to have been a military martinet of the most 
aggravated type. 

His first marriage had been an unhappy one ; and he had 
obtained permission to divorce his wife, Anna Feodorovna, a 
princess of Saxe-Cobourg, and to marry a Polish lady, Julia 
Grudzinska, afterwards made Princess of Lowicz. The second 
wife, however, was a Roman Catholic, and was not a member 
of any royal family. Constantine was therefore disqualified 
for succession unless he repudiated her. But neither he nor 
his wife had the least ambition of reigning. He had executed 
a document renouncing his rights to the throne, but although 
this had been communicated to a family council nothing had 
been made known to the public. 

All the circumstances of this obscure arrangement were 

subsequently cleared up by official publications in 1857, after 

the death of Nicholas. The latter had proceeded to take 

the oath to Constantine as soon as the death of Alexander 

358 



1825] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 359 

became known in St Petersburg ; but on the arrival of a 
courier from Warsaw conveying the renunciation of Con- 
stantine for the third time, Nicholas fixed the 26th of 
December as the day on which he would receive the oath of 
allegiance from the troops ; and Count Speranski, the former 
minister of Alexander, was ordered to draw up the proclama- 
tion. An organised insurrection now took place, being in a 
large measure the result of the numerous secret societies with 
which Russia was honey-combed. Advantage was taken of 
the confusion which prevailed, and the soldiers were informed 
that the Grand Duke Constantine had not resigned. The 
conspirators (including Ryleiev, Muraviev, Pestel, and others) 
had gone round to the various barracks and tampered with 
the fidelity of the soldiers, who were amazed at the confusion 
in which everything was involved. 

A terrible scene took place in the square of the Senate 
(Senatorskaya Plotschad), near the Cathedral of St Isaac. 
The soldiers, who had been misled by the conspirators, 
shouted " Long live Constantine," and when told to shout 
also for the Constitution {Constitutzia), thought that the wife 
of Constantine must be meant. 

Nicholas, who showed a great deal of presence of mind, 
appeared on the scene at an early hour in the uniform of the 
Izmailovski Regiment. The proclamation was read by him 
in a loud voice, but was only answered by murmurs, and a 
declaration that they would not give up their Tsar. During 
the struggle, and while shots were being freely interchanged, 
Miloradovich, who had seen so much service in the recent 
wars, was killed. The metropolitan of St Petersburg was 
now sent by the Emperor to harangue the rioters, but they 
would not listen to him. Missiles were thrown at him, and 
he was obliged to retreat into St Isaac's. The Emperor 
seemed to wish to avoid shedding the blood of the people, 
but at last orders were given to fire upon the rebellious mob. 
A great number were killed, and by nightfall all was quiet. 
The insurrection was quelled with equal facility in the other 
parts of the empire. At seven o'clock a great Te Deu??i 



360 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA . [1825 

was celebrated to announce that, the riot was over and that 
Nicholas had ascended the throne of his ancestors. 

The chief conspirators were one by one arrested : they had 
displayed but little resolution, and had returned to hide 
themselves at home. Many of the most eminent men in 
Russia were mixed up with this ill-advised plot. Pushkin 
was in the house of his friends the Osipovs when the news 
came to his country-place Michailovskoe, near Pskov. It 
was by the merest accident that he was prevented from going 
to St Petersburg to take a share in the conspiracy. The 
same was also the case with Griboiedov, the author of one of 
the best comedies in the Russian language, " The misfortune 
of being too clever " {Gore ot uma). Both Pushkin and 
Griboiedov managed to destroy their compromising papers, 
and remained unmolested. Many of the ringleaders were 
sent to Siberia, among them being members of some of the 
most illustrious families in Russia. Five were hanged — 
Pestel, the son of a former governor of Siberia ; Rileyev, a 
poet of considerable merit, whose works were for a long time 
not allowed to be circulated in Russia ; Sergius Muraviev 
Apostol, Bestuzhev Riumin, and Kakhovski, who had fired 
the fatal shot at Miloradovich : on the 25th of July 1826, at 
three o'clock in the morning they were executed on the 
glacis of the citadel. Owing to an accident three of them 
had to be hanged a second time. Capital punishment was a 
rare event in Russia, and the executioner doubtless lacked 
the experience which he almost invariably has in the West. 
Many of the wives of the exiles asked leave to accompany 
their husbands, and some pathetic narratives have appeared 
of their adventures. 

In a letter from A. Voiekov to Princess E. Volkonski, 
which was printed in the pages of the Magazine Russkaya 
Starina, we get the contemporary view of the Govern- 
ment party on the subject of the Dekabrists. The out- 
break was cited as a proof of how little profit there 
was in knowledge, unless it was based upon honour and 
virtue. N. A. Bestuzhev, the writer tells us, fired at Colonel 



1825] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 361 

Sturler, and attacked with the butt end of his musket or 
stabbed the loyal soldiers; A. A. Bestuzhev, "a mad critic, 
an impudent fellow in society, a writer not without talents," 
gave himself out, we are told, as the adjutant of the Grand 
Duke Constantine. Moreover, Voiekov says that he declared 
that Constantine had been seized on the way, and that 
the Grand Duke Michael was in chains. He wounded and 
stabbed his opponents in all directions, and it appears from 
this letter that it was he who told the soldiers to shout for 
the constitution. Others mentioned are, Orestes Somov, who 
was taken with a pistol in his hand ; and Wilhelm Kiichel- 
becker. Of the latter Voiekov says that he was a greater 
fanatic than Ravaillac or Karl Sand, the assassin of 
Kotzebue, and then adds the following remarkable words : 
" He was educated at the Lyceum at the same time as A. S. 
Pushkin, at the expense of the Grand Duke Michael, as also 
his three sisters, who were at that time receiving a pension 
from the bounty of his Imperial Highness." According to 
Voiekov, Kuchelbecker took aim at the grand Duke Michael 
with a pistol, but the soldiers snatched it from his hand. 

Kuchelbecker was assisted by his friends to escape, and 
might easily have got out of the country, but lingered at 
Warsaw, and was caught in an eating-house in the suburb of 
Praga. He was sentenced to penal servitude for twenty years. 
For some time he was at Schlusselburg, and was afterwards 
removed to Diinaburg (or Dvinsk, as it is now called). In 
1835 ne was sent t0 Barguzin, in Eastern Siberia. He died 
in 1840 while still in exile. 

A tender regret still clings to the memory of Prince 
Alexander Odoievski. He had been initiated into the secret 
society of the conspirators by Ryleiev, and was arrested the 
day after the outbreak of the 20th of December 1825. He 
was sentenced to deportation to Siberia, where he remained 
eleven years. In 1837 he was sent to serve as a common 
soldier in the Caucasus. In 1839 he was ordered to go on 
a military expedition to the eastern shore of the Black Sea, 
but died in camp on the 27th of August, worn out by fatigue. 



362 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i856 

He was the author of some charming lyrics, many of which 
were written during his exile. 

Some of the Dekabrists were afterwards amnestied by the 
Emperor Alexander II. According to the official paper, five 
were degraded from the ranks of the nobility and sent to 
remote garrisons as common soldiers ; a hundred and eleven 
were condemned either to perpetual servitude, or if convicts 
only for a time, were to remain all the rest of their lives in 
Siberia ; and five were sentenced to death. 

Matters had been temporarily arranged between Russia 
and Turkey by the convention of Akkermann in 1826, which 
confirmed the treaty of Bukharest. The question concerning 
the Greeks, which was now becoming more pressing than 
ever, still remained to be settled. The Emperor looked 
upon their struggle with the Turks as a matter of European 
interest, and refused to have it dealt with in an indirect way. 
He viewed the question very differently from his brother 
Alexander, and indeed all Europe had become disgusted 
with the cruel manner in which the Turks were carrying on 
the war. Nicholas wished to put a stop to a sanguinary 
struggle which seemed to threaten with complete extermina- 
tion an unfortunate people and one of the same faith as 
the Russians. On the conclusion of the Convention of 
Akkermann the privy-councillor Ribeaupierre set out for 
Constantinople and, together with the English ambassador, 
offered to the Divan, according to the protocol of March 23, 
1826, the services of Russia and England in settling matters 
between the Turks and Greeks on terms suitable to both 
peoples. 

Greece was to remain under the suzerainty of the Porte, 
and to pay a yearly tribute, but she was to have the right of 
self-government by means of officials elected by the people 
and confirmed by the Porte. The French ambassador also 
supported the proposals of Russia, as did the English minister 
in accordance with instructions received from his government. 

In view of the embittered feeling of the Greeks, who had 
made up their minds rather to perish than to return to their 



1827] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 363 

former slavery, the Sultan might have shown some gratitude 
towards the European cabinets for their trouble in the matter. 
Mahmoud, however, would not hear of any mediation, and 
declared that it rested with him to execute or pardon dis- 
obedient slaves. He accordingly gave orders to the Turkish 
and Egyptian soldiers to devastate the Morea and the islands 
of the Archipelago. Bloodshed was renewed with incredible 
savagery. Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mehemet Ali, the Pasha 
of Egypt and the chief commander of the Ottoman forces, 
spared neither age nor sex; but burnt towns and villages, 
devastated cornfields, and tore up the olive trees by the roots. 

It seemed as though Greece was destined to become a 
desert. In fact the Turk committed the atrocities which 
he has perpetrated over again in Bulgaria and Armenia. 
Thereupon the other powers were willing to listen to the 
proposals of the cabinet of St Petersburg; all Europe was 
astounded as she has been in our time with the Turkish 
atrocities. A complete account of this war does not 
belong to our pages. In spite of many deeds of prowess 
Greece was becoming gradually exhausted ; a state of things 
which was intensified when the Egyptians were called in by 
the Turks, and Ibrahim Pasha began to lay waste the Morea. 
The civilised world, however, was now getting tired of the 
continued bloodshed ; and at length, by a treaty concluded 
in London on July 6th, 1827, between Russia, England and 
France, it was decided again to offer the mediation of the 
three powers to the Porte for a reconciliation with Greece on 
the basis of the St Petersburg protocol, with this addition, 
that if in the course of a month the Turks or Greeks should 
not have themselves brought their hostilities to a close, the 
Powers would compel them to do so with all the resources 
which they could command. Thus another month's agony 
was added to the sufferings of the unfortunate Greeks, who 
were so vastly outnumbered. 

In communicating to the Divan the terms of the proposal, 
the ambassadors of the three powers declared plainly that in 
case of the refusal of one or the other side the allied fleet 



364 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1827 

would be compelled to stop the prolongation of the quarrel, 
which was injurious to trade and was opposed to the moral 
sense of the European nations. 

The Sultan listened neither to threats nor persuasions, and 
the bloodthirsty Ibrahim continued his brutalities in the 
Morea. A large army committed every kind of atrocity 
on the mainland, while the powerful fleet of Turkish and 
Egyptian vessels threatened the islands. The allied fleets 
of Russia, France and England were already in the waters 
of the Archipelago, under the command respectively of 
Codrington, De Rigny, and Count Heyden. These admirals, 
in fulfilment of the orders of their governments, determined 
not to let the Turkish fleet go on to devastate the islands, 
and compelled it to enter the harbour of Navarino. Ibrahim 
procured an interview, at which, in consequence of their firm 
language, he promised to suspend hostilities for three weeks 
till he had received fresh instructions from Constantinople. 
But he very soon broke his word; numerous regiments of 
the Turco-Egyptian army were dispersed over the western 
part of the Morea with the intention of completing the 
devastation. The allied admirals, seeing from their ships 
the glow of the distant conflagrations, at once sent a joint 
letter to Ibrahim in which they reminded him in strong 
language of the agreement he had made, and required an 
immediate answer as to whether he intended to keep his 
promise. The letter was not accepted, under the pretext of 
the absence of the chief in command and ignorance as to 
where he was to be found. These, of course, were direct 
lies intended to gain time for the completion of his work, 
and the admirals determined to adopt decisive measures. 

They resolved to enter the harbour of Navarino, hoping, 
by assuming the offensive, to compel Ibrahim to withdraw his 
troops from the Morea. 

The Ottoman fleet numbered 66 warships, with 2200 
guns, and crews amounting to 23,000 men. It had taken 
a horse-shoe formation, supported on the wings by batteries 
erected on either side the entrance of the bay. A Turkish 



1827] 



THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 365 



and an Egyptian admiral were in command. Ibrahim was 
on the shore. The allied fleet consisted of 2 7 ships of war 
(among them 8 Russian), with 1300 guns, and crews of 
13,000 men. Admiral Codrington took the chief command, 
as being the senior in rank, and on October 20th, 1827, led 
it into the harbour in two columns. The right column con- 
sisted of English and French ships \ the left of Russian. 
Both columns were to enter in order and anchor in front 
of the Ottoman fleet. The first column being nearer the 

Tsr^LV^^JtTIKTO. 78Z7. 






* ZJKie 




Ccx,m.p 



r tress of 



bay, got in front of the left, went into the harbour with 
sails set, and cast anchor before the Turkish vessels. In 
order to explain the cause of their movements Codrington 
sent an officer to the Turkish admiral. The envoy was re- 
ceived with a discharge of musketry, and fell pierced by 
bullets. Another officer was sent, who met with the same 
fate. Immediately guns were fired from an Egyptian cor- 
vette on the French frigate, which answered with a volley. 
The battle had now begun. More than 2000 guns kept 
up a continual fire, the vessels themselves being hidden 
in clouds of smoke. Then, in the mist, and under a cross 
fire from the batteries on shore, the Russian squadron 



366 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1827 

entered the harbour. Amid showers of bullets, it quietly took 
up its appointed station on the left; and anchoring within 
range, opened a murderous fire upon the Turks. Admiral 
Heyden's vessel, the Azov, commanded by Captain Lazarev, 
got engaged with three frigates, and in a few hours destroyed 
them; and others met with similar success. In about four 
hours' time all was over. The Ottoman fleet was annihilated, 
as it had been at Chesme in 1770, and was to be again at 
Sinope in 1853. Of all the ships of which it consisted, only 
one frigate and some smaller vessels remained, the rest being 
destroyed by fire, or becoming the prizes of the conquerors. 
The Turks were almost twice as strong as the allies as regards 
the number of ships, guns and men. The victory of the 
latter was due to their bravery, skill, and a rare unanimity of 
action; Russians, English and French outvying each other 
in deeds of daring. Mahmoud, on hearing of the destruction 
of his fleet at Navarino, became more violent than ever. The 
ambassadors of the allied powers lost all hope of persuading 
him to accept the treaty of London, and left Constantinople. 
This was at once followed by the reading in all the Turkish 
mosques of a hati-sherif for a universal arming for faith and 
country. The Sultan proclaimed that Russia was the eternal, 
unchanging foe of Islam ; that she was meditating the destruc- 
tion of Turkey, and that the insurrection of the Greeks had 
been of her causing. It was she who was the real concocter 
of the treaty of London, so destructive to the Ottoman Empire. 
She had in reality only been trying to gather her foes together. 
For the space of four months the Russian Government allowed 
these thunders to pass unnoticed. It was not without hope 
that the embarrassed Sultan would come to his senses when 
the public opinion of Europe was so clearly against him. Not 
that Turkey ever cared for the moral side of public opinion, 
as we have lately seen in the case of the Armenian massacres. 
But she has shrewdness enough to watch to see if that public 
opinion will become an active force. But all hopes of re- 
conciliation were vain ; Turkey even took active measures to 
annoy Russia ; to impede as much as possible her trade in the 



1828] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 367 

Black Sea, and to induce the Persians to break the treaty they 
had recently made. The struggle now assumed wider dimen- 
sions. The independence of Greece was at length acknow- 
ledged by the Turks, and a king was found for her in the 
person of Otho, the son of the King of Bavaria, whose reign, 
however, cannot be considered to have been a successful one, 
though it is true he laboured under very great difficulties. He 
succeeded to a country full of ruined cities, and to subjects 
demoralised by centuries of barbarism. The crown had 
been first offered to Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, but that astute 
politician had declined such a damnosa hcereditas, and preferred 
to wait for the rich little kingdom of Belgium. 

But the discussion of these matters does not belong to our 
history, nor can we speak of the first President of Greece, 
Count Capo d'Istria, who was afterwards murdered in the 
streets of Nauplia, in consequence of a private feud. 

War between Russia and Turkey broke out in 1828, each 
Power accusing the other of not having observed the Treaty 
of Bukharest. Turkey declared that Russia had fomented the 
Greek insurrection, and caused the troubles in Moldavia and 
Wallachia. Russia, on the other hand, accused the Porte of 
having stimulated the Circassians to revolt, and also hav- 
ing fostered the resistance of Persia. 

A careful plan of campaign had been prepared. Turkey 
was to be attacked on all sides, by land and sea. Immedi- 
ately after the declaration of war, Prince Wittgenstein placed 
himself at the head of an army of 150,000 men, and, on the 
7th of May, crossed the Pruth in three columns. 

The provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, their capitals, 
Jassy and Bukharest, being taken, were administered by a 
Russian governor. The object of Wittgenstein was to cross 
the Danube, and to strike a decisive blow in the plains of 
Bulgaria or Rumelia. Paskievitch was instructed to make an 
incursion from the Caucasus into the Asiatic dominions of 
Turkey, so as to draw away her forces from Europe. Prince 
Menshikov with a separate detachment, was to take Anapa, 
and Admiral Greig, with the Black Sea Fleet, was to silence 



368 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i828 

the forts on the Bulgarian, Rumelian, and other eastern coasts ; 
while Admiral Heyden with the squadron which was in the 
Archipelago, was to close the Dardanelles so as to prevent 
reinforcements coming from Egypt to Constantinople. 

The Russians had thus seized the Danubian principalities, 
as they were called, without firing a shot, and seemed to have 
been welcomed by the inhabitants. 

These unfortunate principalities had in old times experi- 
enced as melancholy a fate as the Baltic provinces. They 
were governed by Phanariot Greeks sent by the Turks, who, 
as they could only hold office for a short time, and were 
liable to lose their lives by palace intrigues, plundered the 
principalities, and kept the native population in a condition 
of slavery. In our own day, after many perils, we see these 
provinces enjoying considerable prosperity. 

The middle column, entrusted to the Grand Duke Michael, 
proceeded to Braila, hoping to take the fortress, which was an 
important strategical position : and thus the rear of the army 
beyond the Danube was made safe. Below Braila, opposite 
to Isakcha, the troops of the left column were concentrated to 
cross the Danube, then much more of a Turkish river than 
now. This column was numerically stronger than the others. 
Here the Russians had a very difficult task, owing to the un- 
usual rising of the river in spring. The surrounding country 
was more or less inundated. The left bank, being lower, had 
become an impassable marsh. In order to reach the banks of 
the river, and make a bridge across it, it was necessary to 
construct earthworks. The soldiers, cheered by the presence 
of the Emperor, who shared in the toils of the expedition, 
worked busily, and made a dam extending about five versts. 
The Turks also did not remain idle. The more mounds the 
Russians made, the more batteries their enemies planted ; 
threatening, by a cross fire, to prevent a bridge being thrown 
over the river. The Russians, however, were assisted by a 
fortunate circumstance. Some Zaporozhian Cossacks at the 
mouths of the Danube, had long lived under the protection of 
the Porte. They had not changed their faith, however, and 



1828] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 369 

when they were brought before the Emperor they were so well 
received that they expressed their readiness to return to their 
former allegiance. Many light vessels came to be at the 
disposal of the Russians. Two regiments of chasseurs, in the 
boats of the Zaporozhians, sailed across the Danube, got 
possession of the Turkish batteries, and raised the Russian 
flag on the right bank. Immediately after them crossed in 
perfect order all the soldiers who had been appointed to 
commence operations in Bulgaria. The Emperor, who 
directed the passage himself, sailed across in a Zaporozhian 
boat, steered by the hetman. 

The Turks, unwilling to meet the Russians in the open 
field beyond the Danube, shut themselves up in the fortresses 
which had served them as defences in their previous wars 
with Russia. 

The chief ports defended besides Braila, were Silistria, 
Rustchuk, Varna and Shumla (Shumen). Each had a large 
garrison under a skilful commander, the fortifications being 
in excellent repair. Shumla, which was almost impregnable 
on account of its position, was held by 40,000 of the best 
Turkish troops under the command of the Seraskier Hussein 
Pasha. Behind the Balkans was stationed the Grand Vizier 
with the reserve of the army to defend Constantinople. 

The Russians resolved to make straight for Shumla and 
try whether the Seraskier could be drawn into an engagement. 
They hoped by the destruction of this force to open a route 
beyond the Balkans. The small fortresses south of the Danube, 
Isakcha, Tulcha, Manchin, Girsova and Kustendji (now 
Costanza), lying on the Russian route, could not detain 
them; they were taken one after the other by separate de- 
tachments. But the stubborn defence of Braila on the left 
bank of the river, in the rear of the Russian army, compelled 
the latter to remain for some time near the Wall of Trajan. 
On the fall of Braila the army again moved forward. The 
soldiers marched in an insufferable heat, over a country 
so bare and sandy that the most trifling supplies had to 
be carried with them. The unwholesome water produced 
2 A 



370 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [iS2S 

diseases ; the horses and cattle died by thousands for want 
of provender. The Turks were, however, defeated, and the 
Russians entered Shumla. 

Their hope of an engagement was not gratified. Hussein 
remained immovable. To take Shumla by assault or by a 
regular siege was difficult ; at all events much bloodshed was 
to be expected, and in the case of failure it would be neces- 
sary to retreat across the river. Owing to the paucity of 
troops it could not be surrounded and so deprived of 
supplies. On the other hand, if Shumla was left unmolested 
and the march continued over the Balkans they would have 
an entire army in their rear which could fall upon them in 
the passes of the Balkans, while the Vizier would be attacking 
them in front. 

The Emperor accordingly ordered Wittgenstein to remain 
under the walls of Shumla so as to keep a watch upon 
Hussein. Meanwhile the detachment of Prince Menshikov, 
which had already threatened Anapa, was to occupy Varna, 
with the co-operation of the Black Sea fleet. The corps of 
Prince Stcherbatov was to take possession of Silistria. The 
capture of the first fortress secured the supply of provisions 
from Odessa by sea ; the fall of the second was considered 
necessary to ensure winter quarters for the Russian army 
beyond the Danube. 

The siege of Varna lasted two months and a half. The 
small detachment of Prince Menshikov proved insufficient to 
take a first-class fortress in so strong a position, and with a 
garrison of 20,000 men under the command of the Sultan's 
favourite general. In vain did the Black Sea fleet, even 
under the eye of Nicholas, threaten the place from the sea. 
The city did not surrender. The Russian works were soon 
moved up to the walls, and through the apathy of Omer 
Vrione, the Turkish general, who was sent to relieve the 
place, it was eventually taken on the nth of October. Its 
capture ensured supplies for the Russian troops in Bulgaria, 
and at the same time deprived Shumla of its strategic import- 
ance. The route to Rumelia across the Balkans was now 



1828] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 371 

open on the side of the sea, but the winter coming on early 
determined the Russians to defer decisive measures till the 
ensuing campaign. Prince Wittgenstein retired across the 
Danube, having left strong detachments in Varna, Bazartchik 
and Pravodi. 

Meanwhile marvellous events were happening in the 
Caucasus. The Russians succeeded in getting possession 
of almost impregnable fortresses, although they had but a 
handful of men. Acting as he did on the defensive in 
Europe, the Sultan meant to strike a vigorous blow in Asia. 
At the very beginning of the war he ordered the Seraskier of 
Erzerum with an army of 40,000 men to make incursions 
in various directions upon Russian territory beyond the 
Caucasus. Russia was at that time in a very awkward posi- 
tion. Her main force had already passed the Danube, and 
the troops of the Caucasus had recently returned from the 
Persian war, worn out with continual fighting and sickness. 
Not more than 12,000 men could be mustered; provisions 
and military stores were exhausted ; the means of transport 
and the artillery were alike inadequate. The Mussulman 
provinces, roused by the instructions sent by the Sultan, only 
awaited the arrival of the Turks, their co-religionists, to rise 
against the Russians en masse. Everywhere was agitation, 
and everywhere treason. There was need of a clear head and 
great military skill to ward off the dangers which threatened 
the army of the Caucasus. But Paskievitch displayed extra- 
ordinary energy. He was to be found everywhere. With 
12,000 men he marched into Asiatic Turkey and surprised 
the enemy by appearing under the walls of Kars, a celebrated 
fortress even then. It was remembered that Nadir Shah had 
retired from it, having unsuccessfully besieged it four whole 
months with 90,000 men. The attempts of the Russians to 
take it in 1807 had also been fruitless. Paskievitch, however, 
took it by storm in less than four days. 

The Turkish soldiers sent by the Seraskier to invade 
Georgia on the side of Kars retired to Erzerum. Mean- 
while danger threatened the Russians on the other frontier 



372 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i828 

About 30,000 Turks were being massed on the frontiers of 
Guria, a Georgian province, and on the road to Akhaltsik, 
under two celebrated Pashas. Paskievitch, hastening to 
anticipate them under the walls of Akhaltsik, was delayed by 
an unexpected obstacle. The plague broke out among his 
men, nearly every regiment being affected. After a delay of 
three weeks to recruit his forces, he moved rapidly on Georgia 
and took two important fortresses. The troops had a most 
difficult passage over the mountains, which were considered 
impassable, and after suffering greatly from the heat reached 
Akhaltsik, at the same time as the two pashas appeared 
under its walls. They had come from Erzerum with 30,000 
men. Paskievitch at once attacked and defeated both. He 
drove their troops into the forests, got possession of four 
fortified camps and all their artillery, and was thus enabled 
to turn the Turkish guns against Akhaltsik. 

Akhaltsik had been founded by the Circassians — a very 
mountain stronghold amidst the defiles. It had become a 
rallying-place for the rebels of various creeds and races, and 
was celebrated throughout Asia Minor for the warlike spirit 
of the natives. The city included within its walls 50,000 
inhabitants, who traded with Erzerum, Erivan, Tiflis and 
Trebizonde. It had belonged to the Turks for three cen- 
turies, no foreign flag during that period having been seen 
on its walls. Tormasov had been unable to take it. The 
town is practically a fortress hanging on a precipitous rock, 
the houses being built like fortresses, and the inhabitants 
trained to feats of arms — every one a soldier. 

Feeling confident in his strength, the Pasha of Akhaltsik, 
when called upon to surrender, answered proudly that the 
matter must be decided by the sword. He remained firm, 
although the Russian batteries kept up a continual fire on 
the place during three weeks. Meanwhile the scanty sup- 
plies of the Russians were exhausted, and only two alter- 
natives presented themselves : either to abandon the siege, or 
to take the place by storm. If the siege was raised, there 
would be much rejoicing among the enemies of Russia, both 



1828] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 373 

open and concealed. If, on the other hand, they attempted 
to take it by storm, the whole army might perish in the 
struggle with an enemy five times as strong. 

Paskievitch had the courage to attempt the latter course. 
On the 26th of August, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the 
storming column, led by Colonel Borodin, commenced the 
assault, and after incredible resistance forced its way into the 
town. Here a desperate struggle awaited them. It was 
necessary to carry by storm each house in succession, and 
every step in advance was dearly bought. The battle lasted 
all night in the midst of a conflagration which extended over 
the whole city. Several times fortune seemed to favour the 
enemy, who were very numerous. The Russian commander, 
however, skilfully kept back the weakest of his columns, 
sent regiment after regiment into the engagement, and was 
eventually victorious. 

On the morning of the 28th of August the flag of St 
George waved over the fortress of Akhaltsik. The conqueror 
hastened to stop further bloodshed, and gave protection to 
the vanquished. He established order in accordance with 
the customs of the people, and having restored the ruined 
fortifications, turned the city of Akhaltsik into a strong 
position of defence for Georgia on the side of Asiatic Turkey. 
The taking of Bayazid, at the foot of Mount Ararat, by a 
separate detachment, made the district of Erivan also secure. 
Thus in less than two months, with the most limited means 
at his disposal, Paskievitch had carried out the orders of 
his Government, and the threatened invasion of the Russian 
dominions in the Caucasus was averted, the invading forces 
scattered, and the pashaliks of Kars and Akhaltsik were in 
the possession of the Russians. 

The successes of the Muscovite arms in Europe in the year 
1828 had not led to similar results. In spite of the many and 
decisive victories of the Russians, both by sea and land, the 
taking of two principalities, of the greater part of Bulgaria, and 
a considerable part of Anatolia, the capture of 14 fortresses 
and 30,000 prisoners, the Sultan still refuse^ to listen to any 



374 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1899 

terms. He had no doubt many English and French advisers 
who urged him to continue to hold out ; and owing to an 
unexpected event, he was still further confirmed in his 
resolution to prolong the war. At the end of January 
1829, Griboiedov, the Russian ambassador at Teheran, was 
murdered, with a great part of his suite, by a fanatical 
mob. Before the outbreak of the war with Turkey, Russia 
had had a quarrel with Persia. In 1826 she had declared 
war. Abbas Mirza, the heir to the Persian throne, had 
invaded the province of Elisavetspol with 50,000 men. The 
Mussulman populations in the Caucasus rose at his approach, 
but Madatov had succeeded in defeating the Persians, and 
Paskievitch and Benkendorf were also victorious. At last 
the Persians sued for terms, and in the result the provinces 
of Erivan and Nakhivan were ceded to Russia by Persia 
by the Peace of Turkmanchai in 1828. To return to the 
duel between Russia and Turkey. The Persians had been 
greatly irritated by the losses which they had sustained as 
the result of the recent peace ; and the emeute in which 
Griboiedov was killed, was in reality a result of that irrita- 
tion, though nominally caused by his having sheltered some 
Christian women at the Embassy. We must find room 
for a few remarks on this interesting man. His work is 
among the literary glories of the reign of Alexander I., and 
his comedy, Gore ot uma (lit. " Grief out of Wit," or as we 
may translate it, "The misfortune of being too clever"), is 
still read with enthusiasm by the Russians. He was a friend 
of Pushkin, who says that Griboiedov had a presentiment of 
his fate, and has described how when travelling with the army 
of Paskievitch he met the body of his deceased friend being 
conveyed to Tiflis for burial. Griboiedov had married a 
Georgian beauty, Nina Tchavtchavadze, who, although made 
a widow at a very early age, never took a second husband, 
although, as we were assured at Tiflis, she had many offers. 
But, as we have said, there was in reality a very bad feeling 
between the Persians and Russians. The Shah had already 
begun to mass his troops on the Russian frontiers. The Sultan 



1829] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 375 

naturally at once opened negotiations with him ; but his 
schemes were rendered abortive by the victorious Paskie- 
vitch, who put a stop to the war. The latter gave Abbas 
Mirza, the heir to the throne, to understand that the destruc- 
tion of the Russian Embassy at Teheran would be followed 
by very serious consequences for Persia ; that a new war with 
Russia might hurl the dynasty of the Kadjars from the throne, 
and that the only way to atone for what had been done, and 
to avert the dangers which threatened him, was to ask pardon 
of the Tsar by means of one of the Persian princes for the 
unheard of insolence of the Teheran mob. Although such a 
proceeding was very humiliating to the proud oriental spirit, 
Abbas Mirza persuaded the Shah to consent, and the eldest son 
of Abbas, Khozrev Mirza, at a grand audience, in the presence 
of the court and the whole diplomatic corps, asked the Tsar 
to forgive the occurrence. 

Although thus deprived of the co-operation of Persia, the 
Sultan still hoped to set matters right by his own efforts. We 
must not forget the kind of man about whom we are writing. 
One of the most sanguinary of the Turkish sultans, Mahmoud 
has left a terrible reputation for his recklessness of human 
life. It was he who murdered the unfortunate patriarch 
Gregory, and mowed down the Janissaries. Mahmoud now 
made preparations for renewing the war ; it was to be a war d 
outrance. The force concentrated at Shumla was increased by 
some thousand regular troops sent from Constantinople, and 
the order was given to the new vizier, Reschid Pasha, cost what 
it might, to retake Varna from the Russians, and drive them 
out of Bulgaria. For Erzerum a new Seraskier was appointed, 
with unlimited powers. Hahki Pasha, a commander of known 
skill and bravery, was also sent to assist him. He was com- 
missioned to arm 200,000 men in Anatolia ; to get possession 
of Kars and Akhaltsik : and to threaten the Russian posses- 
sions in the Caucasus. The Emperor on his side in- 
creased the forces stationed on the Danube, and Paskievitch 
being ill, entrusted the command to Count Diebitsch. 
The corps of Paskievitch was also to be strengthened. 



376 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i829 

Both commanders were ordered to take prompt and decisive 
action. 

In the spring of 1829 Diebitsch crossed the Danube and 
laid siege to Silistria, which the Russians had not succeeded 
in taking during the previous campaign, owing to the early 
winter. The commander-in-chief marched to this stronghold, 
first, because he wanted to make secure the Russian opera- 
tions beyond the Danube, and also in order to decoy the 
vizier out of Shumla. The active Turkish commander, taking 
advantage of the absence of the main body of the Russian 
army, naturally attacked the Russians, who were stationed at 
Pravodi and Bazartchik. In the middle of May the vizier 
came out of Shumla with 40,000 of his best soldiers and 
besieged Pravodi, then occupied by General Kuprianov. The 
chief in command was General Roth, who at once informed 
Diebitsch that the vizier had quitted his impregnable position. 
Diebitsch had expected this to happen, and, handing over 
affairs at Silistria to General Krasovski, himself moved on the 
Balkans with a great part of his army. Without a moment's 
hesitation he pushed forward, carefully concealing his move- 
ments, and on the fifth day was in the rear of Reschid, thus 
cutting him off from Shumla. The Vizier, meanwhile, did 
not suspect the danger, and quickly occupied himself with 
the siege of Pravodi. When at length he became aware of 
the presence of a Russian force in his rear he took them for 
a small detachment of the corps of General Roth, who had 
ventured to block his way to Shumla. He directed his troops 
to annihilate the trivial (as he considered it) force of the 
enemy, but discovered that Diebitsch himself awaited him in 
the defiles of Kulevcha. Reschid then realised completely the 
danger of his position, but he did not lose all confidence and 
resolved to cut his way through the Russian lines. He led 
the attack quickly and boldly, meeting everywhere with a 
vigorous resistance. In vain did the Turks throw them- 
selves with the madness of despair upon the steady Russian 
columns, and cut their way into the infantry and cavalry. 
The Russians could not be shaken. Towards noon occurred 



1829] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 377 

a lull in the fighting, through the exhaustion of both sides. 
Diebitsch, making use of a favourable moment, recruited his 
exhausted forces by bringing up fresh regiments, and in his 
turn fell on the enemy. The battle was renewed with a terrible 
cannonade on both sides. It did not long remain uncertain. 
The Turkish guns were silenced by the vigorous fire of the 
Russian batteries directed by the chief of the staff, General 
Toll. No sooner had the Turks begun to give way than 
Diebitsch moved his infantry to the front, and they advanced 
with the bayonet. The steadiness and rapidity of the attack 
threw the Turks into confusion on all sides. They took to 
flight and dispersed over the mountains, leaving on the field 
about 5000 slain, together with their baggage, artillery, and 
standards. The Vizier himself escaped being taken prisoner 
through the swiftness of his horse, and with great difficulty got 
into Shumla with less than half of his army. The conquerors 
encamped within sight. 

The victory at Kulevcha had very important consequences. 
The Vizier had been completely beaten, and felt anxious about 
the fate of Shumla itself. He therefore concentrated his 
forces as much as possible there, and so left the defiles of 
the Balkans unprotected. The defences of the coast-line 
were also weakened. Diebitsch resolved to take advantage 
of his negligence, and only waited till Silistria should fall to 
cross the Balkans. When it was at length taken, through the 
activity and skill of General Krasovski, the commander-in- 
chief led the corps against Shumla, and commissioned 
Krasovski to blockade the Vizier. He himself, with the 
rest of the army, moved rapidly to the mountains. The 
advanced corps of Roth and Riidiger had cleared the way for 
him, and had driven the enemy from all the positions he 
wished to take up. They forced the passes of Kamtchik, 
and came into the valleys of Rumelia, in our own days so 
deluged with Bulgarian blood. Diebitsch followed directly. 
Krasovski in the meantime showed such skill at Shumla, 
that Reschid Pasha for some days took his corps for the 
entire Russian army, and only found out that Diebitsch had 



378 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1829 

crossed the Balkans when the latter had already traversed 
the most dangerous denies. In vain did he attempt to attack 
Diebitsch in the rear ; Krasovski kept him closely blockaded 
in Shumla. 

Meanwhile the naval forces in the Black Sea and in the 
Archipelago, co-operating with the land forces, had got pos- 
session of the seaports in Rumelia, Inada and Ainos, built in 
the midst of the small Greek settlement, which is surrounded 
by Bulgarians. In the fertile valleys of Rumelia the expe- 
dition of Diebitsch found itself in a comparatively easy 
position. The few Turkish regiments were powerless to 
oppose him ; he seems, however, to have lost a great many 
men through sickness. At length on the 19th of August, 
four weeks after having crossed the Balkans, the Russian 
forces came in sight of the minarets of Adrianople. 

The campaign of 1829 in Asia had been equally success- 
ful. Paskievitch had concentrated all his forces in the 
neighbourhood of Kars, for many years such a bone of 
contention between Russia and Turkey, and now finally be- 
longing to the former. The forces of Paskievitch amounted 
to 18,000 men, and among them were Mussulmans enlisted 
in the districts which a short time before had been conquered 
by Russia. Paskievitch succeeded in occupying the import- 
ant city of Erzerum, the Seraskier of which place had 
collected 50,000 men with the view of recovering what had 
been lost in the preceding year, and invaded Russian terri- 
tory. With this object he had sent his companion Hakhi 
Pasha to Kars with half of the army. Paskievitch seized 
the opportunity to defeat them separately before they could 
reunite. He marched across the high snow-covered range 
of Saganlung, and came upon Hakhi Pasha, who had fortified 
a camp in an almost impregnable position. The Seraskier 
was about ten versts away, and to him Diebitsch directed 
his attention, putting him to flight, after a short conflict. He 
then turned against Hakhi Pasha, and took him prisoner with 
his entire force. The two camps of the enemy, with all the 
stores and artillery, were the substantial result of this victory. 



1829] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 379 

In a few days' time Paskievitch made his appearance under 
the walls of Erzerum. The Seraskier wished to defend the 
city, but the inhabitants trusting in the clemency of the con- 
queror, surrendered. In these engagements, if we carefully 
read the details, we find the same terrible story of the suffer- 
ings of the Armenians which has been heard in our own days. 

The Seraskier having thus surrendered as prisoner of war, 
the army of Turkey had practically ceased to exist. But a 
new Seraskier was sent by Mahmoud, who collected the 
scattered troops as well as he could. Paskievitch defeated him 
under the walls of Baiburt, and had already made his plans 
for penetrating into the interior of Anatolia, when his vic- 
torious career was checked by the news that peace had at 
length been made. Mahmoud had been forced to submit. 
This blood-thirsty ruler, who presented the terrible spectacle 
of a man with the instincts of a savage, and with all the latest 
methods of destruction at his command, was like a tiger at 
bay. The losses had been very great on both sides. 

On the 14th of September 1829 the treaty of Adrianople 
was signed. By the terms of this treaty Russia confirmed her 
right of interfering in behalf of the Orthodox Christians in 
Turkey. This concession has been censured by some of our 
extreme Russophobes, but seems to us to have been in the 
highest degree beneficial to civilisation and to humanity. 
Their condition had been for a long time deplorable. In the 
selfish attempts to preserve the integrity of Turkey (as the 
phrase ran) our western pseudo-philanthropists had turned 
their eyes away from the sufferings of their co-religionists. 
We have only to read such works as the Memoirs of the Pole, 
Michael Czaikowski, who became a Turkish general under 
the name of Sadyk Pasha, to see what kind of life the rayahs 
led under the Turks. 

Of all their conquests the Russians only retained Anapa 
and Poti as important harbours on the Black Sea coast. 
Possessed of these, however, they were better able to check 
the active, though secret, Turkish slave-trade, as they had 
been endeavouring to do since the treaty of Kutchuk- 



38o A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1829 

Kainardji. The Russians also occupied Sukhum Kale, 
Redout Kale, and some other places which were important 
as affording a secure communication with Georgia. They 
also retained Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsik, two very strong 
positions. The Sultan, on his side, was to grant facilities of 
trade to the Russian merchants and to allow trading vessels 
to pass the Dardanelles. A large sum also had to be paid 
by him to indemnify Russian merchants for their losses 
since 1806. Moldavia, Wallachia, and Serbia were to have 
certain rights conceded to them, and thus these provinces 
were gradually released from the degrading Turkish yoke, and 
a new era dawned for them. Their subsequent history till 
they were completely emancipated is merely a record of con- 
tinual efforts on the part of the Turks to shuffle out of their 
obligations. In consequence of this treaty the Bulgarians 
may be said to have been practically discovered. When 
Schafarik published, in 1826, his world-famous book on the 
languages and literatures of the Slavonic peoples, he knew so 
little about the Bulgarian language that he classified it as 
a dialect of Serbian. The Bulgarians had sunk into the 
lowest condition of slavery. The Malorussian scholar Venelin, 
who travelled in the wake of the Russian army, revealed them 
to Europe. His adventures among them are exceedingly 
interesting ; so timid had they become that he found them 
very shy in communicating anything about their language, 
popular songs, or customs. They seemed to imagine that all 
information on the point would in some way or other be used 
against them. Lastly, to speak of the effects of this great 
treaty of Adrianople, the Turks were to recognise the inde- 
pendence of Greece as the Powers had agreed. 

Thus for the subject peoples of Turkey the treaty of 
Adrianople can only be considered as one of the most 
glorious events in history. Their subsequent fate will be 
frequently before us in the course of our narrative. With 
regard to Greece, the Sultan, even after the annihilation of 
his fleet at Navarino, had only been prepared to grant the 
same privileges as had been conceded to Moldavia and 



1830] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 381 

Wallachia ; but after the Russians had crossed the Balkans, 
the ferocious Mahmoud was thoroughly terrified, and agreed 
to all the terms which the allies proposed. 

Finally, on February 3, 1830, the treaty of London was 
signed, which provided for the recognition of Greece as an 
independent sovereignty under the protectorate of the three 
Powers, and with the same territories as were marked out in 
the previous protocol, with the exceptions of Acarnania, a 
part of ^tolia, and some islands. This was an unfortunate 
arrangement, because it left Janina and Thessaly still under 
Turkish rule, to say nothing of the important island of Crete. 
Janina is in the hands of the Turks to the present day. 
Thessaly was not ceded to the Greeks until the treaty of 
Berlin, and Crete has only-recently been liberated from Turkish 
rule after much bloodshed. 

The towns of Greece at that time were mostly in ruins, 
and Athens, which now boasts 100,000 inhabitants, had then 
only 300. 

It was not long before Turkey became entangled in a 
quarrel with her vassal state, Egypt. The former had fairly 
well carried out the stipulations of the treaty of Adrianople. 
But now Mehemet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, seeing that the 
Sultan was in great difficulties, aimed at overthrowing his rule. 
He was the son of a poor Roumeliot, and in his earlier days 
had been engaged in the tobacco-trade, but having entered 
one of the Roumelian regiments, was sent with other soldiers 
to Egypt. He soon acquired influence through his great 
talents and his capacity for intrigue, and thus gradually 
worked his way to the position of Pasha ; that being a com- 
paratively easy rise in a country where such matters depend 
not upon birth and social position, but on the mere caprice 
of those in authority. This had been confirmed by the 
Sultan in 1805. Mehemet introduced many Western im- 
provements and completely revolutionised the condition of 
the country. He also proceeded to rid himself of the Mame- 
lukes in a very inhuman way. The Egyptian fleet had been 
destroyed at the battle of Navarino, but Mehemet, with 



382 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [issi 

astonishing activity, fitted out another, and as a reward for 
his assistance in the struggle with the Greeks, received from 
the Sultan the island of Crete. In the year 1830 he had 
more than thirty ships of war, among them eleven ships of 
the line, and a regular army of 130,000 men. 

Feeling now his own strength, and seeing the Porte 
weakened by internal rebellions and foreign wars, he con- 
ceived the idea of throwing off the suzerainty of the Sultan. 
Under various pretexts he discontinued his payments of 
tribute and refused to assist Turkey in the last war with 
Russia. 

In 1 83 1 he broke out into open rebellion. A powerful 
Egyptian force, led by Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mehemet, 
entered Syria, a country under the rule of the Porte. Mehemet 
Ali declared that the Syrian Pasha, Abdullah, was his personal 
enemy, and that as he had failed in obtaining protection 
from the enfeebled Porte he had resolved to seek satisfaction 
with his own sword. In vain did the Sultan offer his media- 
tion. Ibrahim kept on his course, and captured the Syrian 
towns one after another. Finally, he took the well-fortified 
post of Acre, got Abdullah into his power, and became 
master of all Syria, a rich and populous country, abounding 
in forests for shipbuilding purposes and suitable for com- 
merce. Mahmoud avoided a war with his powerful vassal, 
but declared him a rebel, who had deceived the Prophet and 
his lord. This step, which would at one time have been 
efficacious, was now inoperative. Mehemet Ali paid no atten- 
tion to the threats of his suzerain, and called the Sultan 
himself a renegade from Islam. It therefore only remained 
to subjugate the rebel by force. A considerable body of 
Turkish troops moved from Asia Minor to the Syrian dis- 
tricts, and was completely defeated in the passes of the 
Taurian mountains. Mahmoud now sent another and 
stronger force, under the command of his best general, the 
Vizier Reshid-Pasha. Ibrahim engaged with him near 
Koniah, in Asia Minor, and after a sanguinary contest 
gained a complete victory. The Turkish soldiers fled in all 



1831] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 383 

directions, the Vizier himself being severely wounded and 
taken prisoner. The Sultan found himself now without an 
army and the road to Constantinople was open. The advance 
regiments of Ibrahim took Smyrna and appeared in the 
neighbourhood of Broussa. The Sultan appealed in his 
difficulty both to England and France, but neither power 
would help him. They contented themselves with making 
overtures to Mehemet Ali, which proved abortive. 

On receiving the news of the revolt in Egypt, the Russian 
government had ordered their consul to quit Alexandria. 
The Sultan expressed himself grateful for Russian inter- 
ference. General Muraviev was then sent to Alexandria, 
and orders were given to the Black Sea fleet, as soon as 
notice had been given by the Russian ambassador to the 
Porte, to proceed to the defence of Constantinople. General 
Muraviev was received in Alexandria with special honours. 
Mehemet Ali promised to submit to the Sultan, and in the 
presence of the Russian general sent an order to Ibrahim to 
put an end to hostilities. Meanwhile the Sultan, who had 
received no tidings of the results of Muraviev's mission, was 
panic-stricken by the threatening movements of Ibrahim at 
Broussa, and entreated the Russian ambassador, Buteniev, to 
obtain some troops from Russia to help him. 

Accordingly the squadron of vice-admiral Lazarev was 
despatched from Sevastopol to the Bosphorus. It was 
already at sea when General Muraviev brought to Con- 
stantinople the comforting news of the consent of the pasha 
to submit to the will of his suzerain. At the same time 
Ibrahim informed the Porte that, in obedience to the orders 
of his father, he had stopped all further advance of the 
Egyptian army, and had halted at Kutachia. The Sultan 
was grateful to Russia, but the matter did not end there. 
Orders had already been sent by the Russian ambassador to 
Vice-Admiral Lazarev to return to Sevastopol with his 
squadron when the Sultan ascertained that Ibrahim, in spite 
of the promise given to his father and his own assurance, had 
renewed warlike operations in Asia Minor, had taken posses- 



384 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isss 

sion of Magnesia and had defied the authority of the Turks 
in Smyrna. Mehemet AH himself, also, was manifestly raising 
fresh troops for the reinforcement of his son. In fact all these 
promises were so many instances of Oriental duplicity. For- 
tunately Vice-Admiral Lazarev, who had not met the courier 
sent by Buteniev, came with his squadron into the Bosphorus 
and cast anchor in sight of Constantinople. He had brought 
five vessels of the line and two frigates. The appearance of 
the Russian squadron under the walls of Constantinople at 
such a decisive moment threw the inhabitants into great 
excitement, and caused much perplexity in the Divan. 
Neither the English nor the French governments watched 
these movements with satisfaction. The French ambassador, 
Admiral Roussin, even threatened the Sultan with a rupture 
with France if the Russian ships were not sent away from the 
Bosphorus. But Mahmoud paid regard neither to the 
murmurs of the people nor the difficulties of the Divan nor 
the threats of the French. Russia seemed the only power 
who would do anything for him ; and the Russian squadron 
remained before Constantinople. Indeed, at the request of 
the Sultan it was strengthened. Twenty Russian ships under 
the command of Count Orlov were at anchor off Buyukdere, 
and 10,000 infantry were encamped on the Asiatic shore at 
Unkiar-Skelessi under the command of General Muraviev, 
ready to meet the victorious Ibrahim. It was thus a complete 
triumph for the Russians, who had contrived to play over the 
other powers. 

In England and France, as may be imagined, no little 
commotion was caused by the appearance of these new 
allies. The Emperor Nicholas, however, persevered in his 
plans ; and eventually Mehemet Ali recalled his forces from 
Asia Minor; a Russian officer conducted Ibrahim to the 
confines of Syria, and as soon as the Egyptian army had 
crossed the Tauric mountains the troops of Muraviev were 
embarked, and the fleet returned to Sevastopol. 

By this means Russia procured from the Sultan the treaty 
of Unkiar-Skelessi (August 8, 1833); under which the Turks 



1833] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 385 

stipulated to the Russians to close the Dardanelles to all 
foreign vessels whatever. By the influence of England and 
France a treaty was made between Mehemet Ali and the 
Sultan, with which the Russians were not concerned. They 
had in reality gained all they wanted. Mehemet Ali remained 
Pasha of Egypt, and received in addition Syria, with Damascus 
and Aleppo. Revenues were assigned to his son Ibrahim 
Pasha from the district of Aden, in Asia Minor. But the 
Eastern Question seems destined to be eternal. The Sultan, 
constrained to yield to his rebellious vassal a considerable 
portion of his empire, was more than ever anxious to crush 
him. Mehemet Ali on his side knew that he could rely upon 
France, and was resolved to throw off all semblance of 
vassalage. The rebellious spirit which he continued to 
manifest left the Sultan no alternative but to renew the 
appeal to arms. But in vain. His forces were annihilated 
by the splendid victory of Ibrahim at Nisibia, on the banks 
of the Euphrates. This was a final and richly deserved blow 
to the man who had shown throughout such reckless disregard 
of human life and suffering. Mahmoud died in 1839. Soon 
afterwards the Turkish fleet, at Alexandria, went over to the 
enemy through the treachery of the Kapudan-pasha, and 
Turkey was now left without either ships, money, or men. 
The triumphant Mehemet Ali demanded from Abdul 
Medjid, Mahmoud's feeble-minded successor, the dismissal 
of his enemy the Vizier, and for himself hereditary rule over 
Egypt, Syria, Aden and Crete. He supported his demands 
by threatening to take possession of Constantinople. 

All the Powers, with the exception of France, now felt the 
necessity of taking decisive measures to restrain the man 
who was threatening to destroy the peace of Europe, to use 
a favourite but somewhat meaningless phrase. The ambas- 
sadors of the Great Powers at Constantinople accordingly 
informed the Porte that their Governments had agreed to put 
a stop to this new development of the Eastern question ; and 
proposed to the Sultan that he should submit the question to 
European arbitration. A conference took place in London 
2 B 



386 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1840 

between the representatives of the five Powers, England, 
France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, and it seemed probable 
that an agreement would have been arrived at but for the 
obstinacy of France, which still supported the pretensions of 
Mehemet AH. Finally, on July 15, 1840, without the ac- 
quiescence of France, the Powers agreed to the following 
terms : Mehemet Ali was to be hereditary ruler of Egypt ; 
the southern part of Syria was to be given to him, but only 
on the condition that he recognised the suzerainty of the 
Sultan and paid him tribute. All the other territory which 
was not in the pashalik of Egypt, the northern part of Syria, 
Aden, and Crete were to be restored to the Porte, as was 
also the fleet in the course of ten days. In the case of refusal 
it was agreed that no terms should be made with him, but 
that he should be brought to his senses by force of arms. 
The united fleets of England and Austria were, in that case, 
to blockade the coasts of Egypt and Syria ; and the Russian 
fleet was to protect Constantinople in the event of an attack 
on the part of Ibrahim. Mehemet Ali, relying upon the 
assistance of France, rejected these terms, and the decisive 
action of the Powers saved Europe from a general war. The 
Anglo-Austrian fleet quickly got possession of the fortresses 
on the Syrian coast, Beyrout, Said, Tyre and Acre ; and 
threatening Alexandria itself, compelled the Pasha to listen 
to terms. The Sultan was loth to yield him the hereditary 
possession of Egypt. This, however, the Powers forced him 
to do. Mehemet consented to pay tribute to the Porte. The 
French reluctantly acquiesced in this arrangement. 

We must now retrace our steps somewhat to describe the 
great Polish insurrection of 1830. The Poles had not escaped 
the contagion of the French outbreak, which had again driven 
the Bourbons from the throne. There had been an incon- 
sistency from the beginning in the union of a constitutional 
government with the patriarchal regime of Russia. The Poles 
probably did not understand constitutionalism in the same 
sense as we do, as the country when independent had always 
been dominated by an oligarchy. Many of the more thinking 



1830] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 387 

Poles looked with misgiving upon the outbreak, among them 
Adam Czartoryski, Prince Radziwill, and Chlopicki, who re- 
alised how many circumstances had to be taken into account 
before the insurrection could be successful. On the other 
hand, there were not lacking advanced democratic spirits, 
such as Lelewel, the historian, who were prepared for any 
issues. 

On the 24th of May 1829, Nicholas was crowned at 
Warsaw. He opened the diet with a speech in the French 
language. Some complaints were made on this occasion, 
chiefly relating to the non-publication of the debates of the 
diet, the restrictions of the freedom of the press and the 
arbitrary conduct of the Grand Duke Constantine. Nor 
indeed was it to be expected that a high-spirited people like 
the Poles, conscious of a great past (for they had been at one 
time the most important power of Eastern Europe), should 
settle down into the dependency of a province. Undoubtedly, 
too, the Grand Duke had sanctioned many capricious arrests, 
and was a martinet with something of the spirit of his father 
Paul. The revolution had been carefully planned, and the 
students of the University played a conspicuous part in it. 

On the 29th of September 1830, rockets were fired from 
various places in Warsaw, and an attempt was made to 
seize the Grand Duke Constantine at the Belvedere palace • 
and many Russians and persons well affected to Russia were 
massacred as they hurried to the palace to announce the out- 
break of the insurrection. It appears that there had been a 
plan to seize Nicholas and hold him as a kind of hostage 
when he last visited Warsaw, but the plot had come to 
nothing. The troops fraternised with the people, and the 
chief command was entrusted to General Chlopicki, who had 
seen a good deal of service under Napoleon. He was the 
idol of the people of Warsaw on account of his tall stature 
and military bearing. He was most reluctant, however, to 
take the office, and seems to have nourished the idea of a 
reconciliation with Nicholas on the understanding that the 
Polish constitution should be more accurately observed. 



388 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [issi 

Meanwhile the Grand Duke, who had retired from Warsaw, 
continued his retreat from the kingdom. The Poles suc- 
ceeded in raising an army of 90,000 men. On the 5th of 
January 1831 they published a manifesto setting forth their 
grievances. 

A few days afterwards a force of 120,000 men under 
Diebitsch entered the country. The Russian commander 
issued a manifesto, calling upon the Poles to lay down 
their arms, to which they replied by declaring at a tumul- 
tuous meeting of the diet that the Emperor Nicholas had 
forfeited his title as King of Poland. It was not long, how- 
ever, before Chlopicki quarrelled with his colleagues, and 
resigned his authority. As general he was replaced by 
Prince Michael Radziwill, and the government was entrusted 
to a committee consisting of five members, the chief of 
whom was Prince Adam Czartoryski, among them being the 
impetuous Lelewel. The Poles were successful in some of 
the first battles, especially that of Grochow on February 25th, 
1831, but the losses on both sides were very great. Five 
thousand Poles were killed : while of the Russian army, the 
chief officers, and more than 10,000 men were put hors de 
combat. The Poles, however, were not able seriously to 
impede the march of Diebitsch on Warsaw. There was, 
moreover, a division in their camp : and Skrzynecki, who 
had been elected in the place of Radziwill, showed great 
hesitation. Cholera, too, made its appearance in both 
armies. 

The Poles now were at great pains to win the sympathies 
of Europe to their cause, but they did not succeed in obtain- 
ing any effectual assistance. Much was hoped from France, 
as the Poles had fought in the ranks of the French, and had 
formed a large contingent of the army which invaded Russia. 
It was expected that the new and revolutionary government 
would do for them what the Bourbon would not. From Eng- 
land also nothing really helpful could be gained. Although a 
Whig ministry was in power, the real reason of our not helping 
the Poles was a suspicion of France. The exact words of the 



1831] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 389 

reply which the Poles received are very curious, as showing 
what was thought of Russia then, and how much the feeling 
was to change afterwards. " The policy of England ought to 
be not to weaken Russia, as Europe might soon again require 
her services in the cause of order, and there was no wish that 
Poland should become a French province of the Vistula." 
Prussia, as usual, was the mere tool of Russia, and helped her 
in the war as much as she could. Austria expressed herself 
as willing to assist Poland, but did not arrive at that determina- 
tion until it was too late. The Pope declared himself able to 
do nothing. On the 26th of May, the Poles under Skrzynecki, 
were defeated at Ostrolenka. It had cost them 7000 men, 
and the Russian loss was also very great; so that Diebitsch 
made no effort to pursue the defeated Poles. He shut him- 
self up in his camp at Pultusk, where he was (June 10th) 
carried off by cholera. In the course of a few weeks the 
Grand Duke Constantine also expired at Vitebsk ; and his 
wife died soon afterwards. 

The command of the Russian army was now given to 
Paskievitch, who marched on Warsaw. In that unfortu- 
nate city there occurred on the 15th of August another 
massacre of suspected persons who had been detained in 
prison. It is curious to find Lelewel, the democratic his- 
torian, justifying these excesses. Paskievitch now appeared 
at the gates of Warsaw with 12,000 men and 400 guns. 
On the 4th of September he sent General Dannenberg with 
a proposal of capitulation to the Polish Government. After 
much bloodshed and an heroic defence, which lasted from 
five o'clock in the morning till late into the night, the city 
surrendered on the morning of the 7th September. The 
unhappy country was doomed to pay dearly for this insur- 
rection. Shortly after the Russians entered the capital an 
amnesty was published, from which certain persons were 
excluded, viz.: 1. The authors of the revolution of the 
29th of November. 2. The members of the Polish Govern- 
ment. 3. The deputies who supported the act of the separa- 
tion of Poland from Russia. 4. The assassins of the night 



390 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i8S2 

of the 15th of August. The Polish flag, the white eagle which 
they had borne to so many victories, was abolished. The 
Polish army was incorporated with that of Russia ; the higher 
schools and the University were suppressed, and the libraries, 
including the celebrated Zaluski library, so rich in manu- 
scripts and early printed books relating to Poland, were carried 
off to St Petersburg. At length on February 26th, T832, 
Poland was declared a Russian province, and the constitution 
which had been granted by Alexander I. was abolished. But 
even further disasters were to befall the unhappy country. 

Prince Czartoryski, in his valuable Memoirs, has left us 
some curious pictures of the state of feeling with regard to 
Poland at the time. He found but a cool reception in 
England, which country he had some difficulty in reaching, 
being very nearly captured by the Russians at Cracow. The 
German states stood in great awe of the Slavonic Empire, 
and obeyed its dictates in a very servile fashion. Lord 
Palmerston was icy and disingenuous. Earl Grey told him 
that the interpretation of the treaty of Vienna would depend 
a great deal upon Austria and Prussia. While, however, in 
aristocratic circles the Prince received the cold shoulder, 
his cause was popular among the people. A dinner was 
given to him in 1832, at which the poet Campbell made a 
speech. The Russian ambassador to the Court of St James 
was at that time Prince Lieven, whose wife wrote some very 
interesting memoirs. He complained to Lord Palmerston 
that Earl Grey had invited to his house the "president of 
the rebel government." 

Prince Adam was soon afterwards introduced to Brougham : 
he found that the sympathies of that versatile man for the 
Poles had somewhat cooled. Prince Adam was not, how- 
ever, completely discouraged. He prepared a memorandum 
which discussed in full the rights of Poland according to 
the treaty of Vienna. Lord Palmerston informed him that 
representations had been made to the Russian Government 
anent the fulfilment of the treaty. The Russian answer to 
these representations came at the end of January 1832. It 



1838] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 391 

was courteous in tone, but rejected the English interpretation 
of the treaty, and submitted that Russia had a majority in 
her favour, inasmuch as Russia, Austria and Prussia were 
on one side and only England and France on the other. 
The language of Austria and Prussia was hostile to Poland 
in the extreme. So matters rested for the time, but we shall 
see that the Polish question was again brought up at the time 
of the Crimean War. 

The next important measure of the reign of Nicholas was 
the reconciliation of the Uniate with the Orthodox Church. 
In order to thoroughly understand this it is necessary to 
consider under what circumstances the Uniates first arose. 
In the middle of the fourteenth century Russia had lost her 
eastern provinces to the rising Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 
then under very powerful rulers. Of course prior to that 
period a consolidated Russia cannot be said to have existed, 
but the eastern provinces, which had been acquired by 
Lithuania, were Russian in language and had adopted the 
Greek faith; Kiev, the chief city, being the very metropolis 
of Russian orthodoxy. While these provinces were under 
the government of the Lithuanian princes, their religion does 
not seem to have been interfered with. But in 1386 Jagiello, 
the Lithuanian prince, married Jadviga, the Polish heiress, 
and became a good Roman Catholic under the name of 
Ladislaus. The members of the Greek Church were soon 
interfered with by the Roman Catholic clergy, and matters 
became worse when the Order of Jesuits was founded and 
the great religious reaction took place. These indefatigable 
missionaries poured into the Russian provinces, and every 
effort was made to secure the adherence of the inhabitants 
to Rome. In these conversions the celebrated Jesuit Skarga 
was very active, and successful on account of his great 
eloquence. In 1594 four Orthodox bishops, those of Luck, 
Pinsk, Chelm and Lemberg, undertook to bring their flocks 
into harmony with the see of Rome. The metropolitan of 
Kiev lent them a hearty co-operation. These prelates 
assembled at Brest-Litovsk (to give it its present Russian 



392 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isss 

name), and got permission from the Pope, on their accept- 
ing the chief points of the Council of Florence, to use the 
Slavonic language in their liturgy and to retain certain points 
of discipline of the Eastern Church. Hence they were called 
Uniates. 

When these provinces came back to Russia, as they did 
gradually, their new masters were anxious to restore the old 
faith ; and many efforts in that direction had been made 
during the early part of the nineteenth century. On the 
death of their metropolitan, Bulgak, in 1838, the time seemed 
to have come for the fusion of the churches. In the following 
year the Russian Greco-Uniate bishops, under the leadership 
of Joseph Siemashko, addressed a memorial to the Tsar in 
which they expressed their readiness to return to the Orthodox 
Church. The Uniates are now chiefly to be found in Galicia, 
and the city of Lemberg may be regarded as their head- 
quarters. 

During a great part of the reign of Nicholas Russia was 
occupied with a series of engagements with the Circassians. 
Her great advantage in this part of her dominions has 
been, as it has been with the English in India, the fact 
that the various races which inhabit the Caucasus, some 
Christian and some Mohammedan, are incapable of co- 
operation, and have no solidarity. They speak different 
languages, and have different customs, and are more often 
engaged in petty wars with each other than with a foreign 
foe. The Lesghian Shamyl, who led the mountaineers 
against the Russians, showed great administrative and 
military capacity. The English have often indirectly sup- 
ported the Circassians. A vessel called the Vixen was 
captured by the Russians in 1836 in an attempt to land 
a cargo of arms for the insurgents. It was among the 
Tchetchens and the Lesghians that the great struggle took 
place, owing to the preaching of a fanatic, Mollah Mohammed. 
Yermolov, the Russian governor, repressed the agitation as 
best he could. The plan of the Mollah was to unite the 
Mussulmans in a religious war against the Russians. His 



1845] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 393 

scheme was taken up by two men of a more military 
character, Ghazi-Mollah and Mollah-Shamyl. The insurgents 
soon numbered 3000 men, and had fortified such a strong 
position at Himri that the Russians were for some time 
unsuccessful in their attacks upon it. But finally, although 
its position seemed so impregnable, they contrived to penetrate 
it. Ghazi-Mollah was killed and Shamyl wounded, and the 
Russians imagined that they had pacified the fierce 
mountaineers. But the place of Ghazi-Mollah was taken 
by Hamsad Bey, who declared himself his heir and successor, 
and got together a force of 12,000 men. He was, however, 
assassinated in 1834. It was then that Shamyl, the hero of 
the Mohammedan Caucasus, showed himself in his true 
dignity as soldier prophet and statesman. He had been the 
friend of Ghazi-Moliah, and had been thought killed at the 
sack of Himri. When, therefore, he reappeared among his 
people he was considered to be under the special protection 
of heaven. 

While Shamyl was endeavouring to raise the Mohammedans 
against the Russians, the latter were not idle. General Grabbe 
succeeded in taking the fortified aoul of Akulcho, but by the 
self-sacrifice of his followers the prophet managed to escape. 
His reappearance among them only confirmed the idea of his 
miraculous preservation, and his influence was further increased 
by the severe defeat which he inflicted upon General Grabbe, 
who attacked him in his new fortress at Dargo in 1842. The 
baffled commander was recalled and under the regime of the 
new governor, Neidhardt, Shamyl succeeded in even further 
developing his power. He established a complete political 
organisation, and created twenty provinces to be governed by 
naibs. He went about with a guard of 1000 men, and 
established in 1841 a cannon foundry at Veden. In 1844 
Vorontsov was sent as governor to the Caucasus. The new 
commander resolved to surround the district occupied by 
Shamyl with strong outposts, and gradually to draw the 
cordon tighter. In 1845 Dargo was taken, and Shamyl, 
thoroughly divining the plan of his enemy, tried to break 



394 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1846 

through the iron circle by which he saw himself every day 
more narrowly encompassed. But under this new system of 
tactics his power gradually declined. Pursued from retreat to 
retreat, he managed to elude the Russians for thirteen years 
longer, when he was at length captured and interned in 
Russia. The seizure of the English vessel Vixen by the 
Russians, which we have already spoken of, was an incident 
of this war. A feeble attempt was made at the time of the 
Crimean War to rouse the Caucasus against Russia, but it led 
to no result. We shall speak of it more in detail later. 

Nicholas was now at the very height of his power. By the 
treaty of Unkiar Skelessi (June 9, 1833) Turkey had become 
his complete vassal : the Sultan undertook, if the Tsar was 
attacked, to close the Dardanelles, and each guaranteed the 
security of the other's dominions. Austria and Prussia were 
entirely guided by Russian policy, and Sweden was powerless. 

In 1846 an insurrection had broken out in Galicia, in the 
course of which the peasantry murdered many of the landed 
proprietors. According to some writers, this outbreak was 
encouraged by the Austrian government. It formed the 
subject of one of the most powerful productions of the 
Polish poet Ujejski. Although the independence of Cracow 
had been guaranteed by the treaty of Vienna, Nicholas did 
not hesitate to march troops into the city to put down the 
insurgents. 

Cracow had remained for some time in the hands of the 
revolutionary party. People fired upon the Austrian soldiers 
from the windows of the houses, but in many cases they paid 
very dearly for it, as the angry troops killed all whom they 
found. The shooting is recorded of a beautiful young woman 
who had fired from a window. According to the Russian 
narrative of N. Berg, who has written a full account of this 
uprising, the details of which are but little known, a certain 
Kajetan Rzuchowski was chosen the leader of the insurgents, 
on account of his being a veteran of the army of Kosciuszko. 
A very vigorous address, too long to be quoted, was read to 
the crowds assembled in the streets. An idea of it, however, 



1849] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 395 

may be formed from the following sentences : " There are 
twenty millions of us : let us rise as one man and no one will 
overpower our strength. We shall have such liberty as never 
has been known on earth. We shall attain a condition of 
society in which each will enjoy the fruits of the earth in 
proportion to his services and capabilities." The main 
leader of the revolutionary movement throughout was a 
certain Tissowski. Paskievitch, who was then the governor 
(Namiestnik) of Poland, sent troops against the town under 
General Paniutin. They reached the city by the 3rd March, 
and the following proclamation was issued : — 

" Inhabitants of the City of Cracow, — A powerful Russian 
army has come to re-establish peace, which has been dis- 
turbed in your city. Make haste to receive it within your 
walls so that it may protect the innocent. Everybody w T ho 
lays down his arms will be spared. But whoever is seized 
with arms will be put to death ; and if the defence of the city 
is persevered in, it will be mercilessly delivered over to fire 
and sword. I announce this by order of his highness the 
governor of the kingdom of Poland, Field-Marshal the Prince 
of Warsaw." 

The city capitulated. Tissowski surrendered, and managed 
at first to escape, but w 7 as caught and imprisoned in Konig- 
stein. Nicholas then withdrew his forces, leaving Austria to 
annex Cracow and the territory assigned to it, and receiving 
in compensation a small piece of land between the Austrian 
town of Brody and the Russian Vladimir. 

The French, revolution of 1848 threw almost the whole of 
Europe into a commotion, but the armies of Nicholas re- 
mained at first inactive, with the exception of a trifling inter- 
ference in the Danubian principalities. 

In 1849 tne Russians assisted the Emperor of Austria in 
his efforts to quell the uprising of his Hungarian subjects. 
We shall not be able here to do more than record the main 
facts of the Hungarian insurrection. Kossuth had persuaded ^ 
the Hungarian diet to order a levy of 200,000 honveds (or 
national troops) and the issue of forty-two million guldens in 



396 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [iM9 

paper money. Count Leraberg, who had been appointed by 
the Emperor of Austria governor of Pesth. was murdered by 
the insurgents on the bridge of that city. Kossuth now ruled 
nearly the whole of Hungary as president of the committee of 
national defence. Windischgratz, the Austrian general, had 
some trifling successes over Gorgei. who commanded the 
Hungarian army, and the Ban of Croatia Jellachich sup- 
ported the Austrian party. By degrees the Hungarians met 
with more and more success, although the Roumanian and 
Slavonic populations in the country were not sympathetic. 

The Magyars took Buda, which was held for the Austrians 
by the brave Hentzi. who preferred to be killed 

rather than surrender the fortress. The position of the 
Austrians now became a difficult one. The Magyars sur- 
rounded them, and they had no allies. Their forces had, in 
fact, been twice swept out of Hungary. Perplexed and humili- 
ated, the Austrian government now turned to Nicholas with 
a request for help. He had long been the arbiter of the 
fortunes of Eastern Europe, and boasted that he was the 
champion of authority. But it was probably the fact that 
numbers of Poles were fighting on the side of the Magyars 
which determined the Tsar to intervene. To say nothing of 
others, there were the two generals, Bern and Dembinski. 
Bern had been one of the most efficient in the great struggles 
at Warsaw before it surrendered. It was for Nicholas the 
house of a neighbour on fire, and perilously near to his own. 
But we know that he afterwards regretted his action. We 
are told that on one occasion on looking at the statue of 
John Sobieski at Warsaw, he said : " That man and I made 
the same mistake. We both saved Austria." The latter 
power showed a certain measure of ingratitude a little later 
on, when she practically sided with the allies in the Crimean 
War ; but at the same time afforded them no solid help. One 
of the terms of the assistance to be given was that the 
Russians were to act independently of the Austrian troops. 

In 1849 the Austrian Government had appointed a new 
commander of their forces — Haynau, who has acquired in 



1849] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 397 

history such detestable notoriety. Tne military movements 
of the Russians were settled as follows : — Hungary was to be 
attacked through the passes of the Carpathians. At Dukla, 
in Galicia, Field-Marshal Paskievitch was already in command. 
General Luders was to act against Transylvania ; General 
Paniutin was to go to Pressburg to co-operate with the 
Austrian army ; and General Sass was to employ his detach- 
ment in drawing off the Magyars from their close pursuit of 
the Austrians. 

The Russian troops amounted to 190,000. According to 
some accounts the insurgents had 200,000. The first en- 
counter between the Magyars and the Russians took place on 
May the 16th. In Transylvania Luders resisted the attacks 
of the insurgents. The Roumanians were in sympathy with 
the Russian invaders. On the 19th of July the Magyars 
occupied the Rothenthurm pass of the Carpathians, but were 
completely defeated by the Russians. Luders now took 
Hermanstadt, and made a movement in the direction of 
Segesvar (Schasburg). Here took place on the 31st of July 
the battle in which fell the poet Petofl, who had acted as 
Bern's adjutant. Bern himself barely escaped with his life, 
and on the Russian side General Skariatin was killed at the 
very beginning of the engagement. The battle was partly 
fought in a field of maize. 

Meanwhile the detachment of General Paniutin, which 
acted as a kind of reserve for the Austrian forces, gained 
a brilliant victory near Pressburg. Gorgei had resolved to 
attack the Austrian corps, and the divisions of Polt and 
Herzinger had been in great peril at the village of Pered. 
But General Paniutin came upon the Magyars and drove 
them across the river Waag. The Austrians were thereby 
enabled to march against the city of Raab, which they were 
not long in taking. 

To make sure of getting supplies the field-marshal moved 
his forces to Tokay. The Cossacks swam the river Tissa 
(Theiss) and took the city. But the movements of the 
Russian army became very much hampered, and cholera now 



398 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

raged among their ranks. It was the same calamity as had 
happened to the army of Diebitsch in Poland. At this time 
the insurgents, to the number of 60.000 were near Komorn, 
under the command of Gorgei, having the Austrian army in 
front of them. Wishing to prevent the junction of Gorgei 
with the detachment of Vysocki. by a march through Pest or 
Waitzen, the commander-in-chief left General Paniutin at 
Komorn with the Austrian army, and stationed the chief part 
of the Russian forces on the banks of the Danube. 

General Paniutin again assisted the Austrians in the en- 
gagement at Komorn. The harassing movements of General 
Sass compelled him to hasten to the town of Waitzen. but 
there they attacked the Magyars with great success. The 
Austrian commander-in-chief allowed Gorgei to avoid a de- 
cisive battle. Paskievitch had intended to get the Hungarians 
between two fires, and thus conclude the whole matter at 
Waitzen. Gorgei marched along the left bank of the Danube, 
and after the Russians had been successful at the village of 
Tur, retreated to Losoncsa. At the village of Miskolcz the 
Magyars again suffered a repulse. ■ Eventually, on the 13th 
of August 1S49, Gorgei laid down his arms at Villagos to 
General Riidiger, in the Russian service. After having 
endured much obloquy for this step, the Hungarians, by a 
deputation sent to the aged General a few years ago. acknow- 
ledged that no other course was open to him. Unfortunately 
he and Kossuth had never been on good terms. Gorgei had 
aristocratic prejudices, and hoped from the very beginning 
to be able to arrange matters with the house of Habsburg. 
Kossuth was, on the other hand, more of a democrat. There 
can be no question of any treason in the conduct of Gorgei. 
Some of the unfortunate Hungarian generals when led to 
execution bore ample testimony to that 

The Hungarian campaign was now at an end. But it 
cannot be said to have been of any service to the Russians 
in spite of the braver}- they had shown. The pretensions of 
the Tsar Nicholas, to be looked upon as the great protector 
of law and order in Europe, led to the jealousy of the other 



1851] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 399 

powers. Many of the Hungarian leaders, including Kossuth 
and Bern, escaped into Turkey, and found refuge in Widdin. 
The fate of the generals who were captured was terrible. On 
the 6th of October twelve of these insurgent officers were 
hanged at Arad, and Count Batthyany was also shot at Pesth. 
It was impossible to hang him, because in his attempts at 
suicide he had inflicted on himself a severe wound in the 
neck. All Europe rang with stories of the brutalities of 
Haynau, and having imprudently ventured to England in 
185 1 this miscreant was nearly murdered by an infuriated 
mob. 

The Emperors of Russia and Austria demanded the extra- 
dition of the fugitives. But this was firmly refused by the 
Sultan, whom Sir Stratford Canning encouraged in this atti- 
tude. The Emperor of Russia reiterated the demand, and a 
British fleet actually appeared in the Dardanelles. Finally the 
Emperors agreed to be satisfied if the fugitives were removed 
further into the Turkish dominions. They were transferred 
accordingly to Kutayah, where they remained until the middle 
of the year 185 1, when the Americans placed a frigate at the 
disposal of Kossuth, and those of his companions who wished 
to go. Some Hungarians remained in Turkey, having accepted 
the faith of Islam ; among these was the celebrated Bern, 
whose career had been so chequered. Bern burned with 
the deepest hatred of the Russians. He had been an in- 
surgent in the war of 1 830-1, and had the good fortune to 
escape its consequences. It was the policy of Kossuth to 
employ foreign generals, so as to avoid as much as possible 
rivalry on the part of the native leaders. Mutual jealousies, 
however, greatly hampered the success of the Hungarian arms. 
Bern had displayed a marvellous command of resources in 
Transylvania. He had been struck with the capacity of the 
young Magyar poet, Alexander Petofi, and had made him his 
aide-de-camp. The appointment, however, seems never to 
have been ratified by the central Government. By many 
of the Hungarian generals Bern was held to be altogether 
too much of a free-lance. We have already spoken of the 



400 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1853 

death of Petofi at the battle of Segesvar. This has been 
doubted, but it seems clear that nothing definite was heard 
of him afterwards. Bern became a Turkish pasha, but did 
not live long in exile. He died of a fall from his horse 
while riding in the suburbs of Aleppo in 1850. But as far 
as Russia was concerned all these struggles were to be 
thrown into the shade by the great war with England and 
France on the Oriental question. 

England had for a long time been occupied, through 
her able Minister, Sir Stratford Canning, afterwards Lord 
Stratford de Redcliffe, in baffling the movements of 
Russia in the East. France, which in the year 1852 had 
made overtures for an alliance with Russia, had now 
become estranged from her. Nicholas personally disliked 
Louis Napoleon, and disapproved of the revolutionary 
government from which his authority had sprung. Nor did 
he like the programme of the French Emperor, who was now 
just fresh from the coup aVetat, and spoke in one of his pro- 
clamations as if he intended to repudiate some of the 
conditions which had been forced upon France by the treaty 
of Vienna. Even while the French Emperor was urging the 
advance of the allied fleets to the Dardanelles, there is good 
reason to think that he was making overtures to the Emperor 
Nicholas for an alliance on the basis of common hostility to 
England. The question of the Holy Places was an after- 
thought. The policy of the Turks was dictated by Lord Strat- 
ford de Redcliffe. Under his guidance the Sultan rejected 
the points demanded by Menshikov, who accordingly left 
Constantinople on the 12th of May 1853. The chief point in 
dispute was the right of Russia to interfere for the protection 
of the Orthodox Christians. The Tsar in the meantime was 
holding those conversations with Sir Hamilton Seymour, our 
Minister at St Petersburg, which have since become so famous, 
and in which he marked out the future distribution of the 
territories of the Sick Man. His overtures to England to the 
effect that she should have Egypt, while he appropriated 
Constantinople, were rejected. Later times have not been 



1854] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 401 

wanting in indications that much of what the Tsar said was 
destined to be prophetic. On the 3rd of July the Russians 
crossed the Pruth, and entered the Danubian principalities. 
England and France, however, did not declare war against 
Russia till March 24th, 1854. The first hostile encounter of 
the Russians and Turks took place at Isakcha, near Toulcha, 
on the Danube, on October 23rd, 1853. At this time Lord 
Aberdeen was Prime Minister, and viewing his conduct in the 
light of subsequent events, we cannot but feel that he acted 
with great prudence. The concessions which Menshikov 
demanded from the Porte in the matter of the Eastern 
Christians at Jerusalem were by no means unreasonable.- 
There was great probability that at the beginning the 
matter might have been arranged. The English Govern- 
ment refused to allow a fleet to be sent to the Dardan- 
elles, as they were urged to do immediately on the departure 
of Prince Menshikov. The French Emperor, however, who 
was using England as a catspaw, complicated matters, by at 
once despatching the Toulon fleet to Smyrna. He probably 
wished to embroil England and Russia, and to make any 
peaceful solution of the question impossible. We have 
already seen how he was throughout solely bent on serving 
his own ends. Lord Aberdeen, who had all the caution and 
prudence of a Scot, was continually being urged by the hot- 
headed politicians and military men of his time to rash action. 
Even after the Russian troops had entered the Danubian 
principalities the English cabinet was unanimously of opinion 
that efforts should be made in conjunction with France, 
Austria, and Prussia to discover some terms upon which 
Turkey and Russia might come to an agreement. The 
English draft convention, however, which the belligerent 
powers might well have accepted, did not find favour with 
Louis Napoleon. The European diplomatists then set to 
work on the basis of a French draft convention, which 
eventually became the celebrated Vienna Note. This Note, 
however, although recommended by the four Powers, and 
accepted by the Tsar, was rejected by the Turks. They 
2 c 



402 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1854 

were willing to accept it in a modified form, but the desired 
modifications were not such as the powers felt disposed to 
urge, and they were, of course, as had been expected, rejected 
by Russia. The Russian refusal was couched in courteous 
terms, and gave as a reason the reluctance of the Tsar to 
allow the Turks to change a document which had been 
prepared by the four Powers and accepted by him. Athough 
it subsequently appeared that the Note had not been in- 
terpreted in exactly the same way by Russia, yet peace still 
might have been secured had it not been the real wish of the 
Sultan that the matter should end in war. In this resolution 
some of his western advisers confirmed him ; and the Porte 
determined to declare war if a pacific settlement was not 
arranged within a certain time. 

Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, the great elchi, as he was 
called, at that time a Turcophile, but destined to change his 
opinions afterwards, now stepped forward with a fresh Note, 
which he declared would suit the Turks, and yet virtually 
contained what Nicholas demanded. Lord Aberdeen asserted 
that to ensure the acceptance by the Porte of the new Note 
as presented he considered it essential that it should be 
accompanied by a declaration that if it were not adopted the 
four Powers would not " permit themselves, in consequence of 
unfounded objections, or by the declaration of war, which 
they had already condemned, to be drawn into a policy 
inconsistent with the peace of Europe, as well as with the 
true interests of Turkey itself." Aberdeen, in a letter to 
Gladstone, showed that he rightly grasped the situation : 
"The Turks, with all their barbarism, are cunning enough, 
and see clearly the advantages of their situation. Step by 
step they have drawn us into a position in which we are 
more or less committed to their support. It would be 
absurd to suppose that, with the hope of active assistance 
from England and France they should not be desirous of 
engaging in a contest with their formidable neighbour. 
They never had such a favourable opportunity before, and 
may never have again." Aberdeen thought that peace might 



1854] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 403 

still be preserved if the Turks were required to suspend 
active hostilities during the progress of the negotiations. 
Instructions to this effect with one slight (but, as it turned 
out, fatal) addition made by Lord John Russell, were at once 
despatched to Lord Stratford. If the Turks signed the newly 
proffered Note before hostilities began there was good reason 
for believing that it would be accepted by Nicholas. Those, 
therefore, who desired war, and that Turkey should have the 
support of England and France, were anxious that hostilities 
should have been commenced before the Note was considered. 
Lord John Russell had foolishly inserted in the paper the 
words, "within a reasonable time," and Lord Stratford 
allowed the Turks to interpret a reasonable time to be a 
fortnight, which was wholly inadequate. When Lord Strat- 
ford reported the slow acquiescence of the Turks it was too 
late. Blood had been shed, and Russia was not likely to 
accept the Note. 

Aberdeen's letter to Palmerston (Sir Arthur Gordon's 
Life, p. 235) is a splendid document, and shows a complete 
understanding of the Turkish character and the Turkish 
position in Europe. He says : " If the war should continue 
and the Turkish armies meet with disaster, we may expect to 
see the Christian population of the Empire rise against their 
oppressors, and in such a case it could hardly be proposed to 
employ the British force in the Levant to assist in compelling 
their return under a Mahommedan yoke." Had the life of 
Lord Aberdeen been prolonged he would have seen the 
Beaconsfield government sending back to Turkish misrule 
the enfranchised Macedonians. The wise counsels, however, 
of Aberdeen came too late ; the war had actually begun. 

The Turks now crossed the Danube, and the British fleet 
entered the Bosphorus on November 4. Omar Pacha, the 
renegade Croat Michael Lattach, won the battle of Oltenitsa 
(on the left bank of the Danube), but it would seem that on 
this occasion the Turks greatly outnumbered the Russians. 
Even then peace might have been obtained, but the wrath of 
the English was aroused by the great naval battle of Sinope, 



404 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1854 

November 30. In this splendid victory the Turkish fleet was 
destroyed, and those who speak of the battle as a massacre 
may be referred to the admirable remarks of Sir Arthur 
Gordon in this connection : " Looked at in the light of after 
years, there was nothing in the battle of Sinope to justify the 
outcry of horror which it called forth. Russia and Turkey 
were at war — a war declared not by Russia but by Turkey. 
When nations are at war, an attack on the fleet of one belli- 
gerent by the fleet of the other is not only justifiable, but to 
be expected. Nor does the number of ships sunk or cap- 
tured, the completeness of the victory, or the fact that the 
enemy's fleet was at anchor in one of its own ports affect the 
legitimate character of the action. Less than thirty years 
before an English fleet, in conjunction with those of France 
and Russia, had destroyed the Turkish navy in a Turkish 
harbour, and that at a time when both England and France 
were at peace with Turkey. But that ' untoward event ' had 
been as much lauded and rejoiced over in England as the 
untoward event of Sinope was denounced and shuddered at. 
The English public did not trouble itself to enquire into the 
legal or technical character of the transaction. It had taken 
the Turks into its friendship, and now saw its friends worsted. 
It dubbed the battle a massacre, and called for vengeance." 

On January 4, 1854, the British and French fleets entered 
the Black Sea. Turkey had tardily subscribed the Note. 
Even then the Emperor Nicholas still hesitated. He was 
willing to accept five of the seven proposals, but with certain 
reserves. Here, however, when fresh negotiations might have 
been entered upon, Austria was found to disagree. She 
rejected the Russian reservations as inadmissible, and pro- 
posed that their rejection should be followed by a summons 
to Russia to evacuate the Principalities. Lord Aberdeen 
agreed to this, and the summons was despatched, but the 
English government had the mortification of finding that it 
was only diplomatic support which was intended, and England 
and France were left alone to declare war against Russia on 
March 28, 1854. 



1854] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 405 

Already, on the 5th of January, the Turks had gained the 
battle of Citate, a place on the left bank of the Danube, 
almost opposite to Vidin, and in Roumanian territory. 

From the outset concerted action between England and 
France had been difficult, owing to the uncertain policy of 
the French Emperor, which did not inspire any confidence. 
The strings were pulled for the most part by Lord Stratford 
de Redcliffe, who had long ruled at Constantinople, and it 
seems pretty clear that the largest share of responsibility for 
the war must rest upon his shoulders. It was taken up in 
the country by enthusiasts and newspaper politicians. 

Very little was really known of the past history of either 
Russia or Turkey. To the majority of Englishmen England 
was going to rescue the Bulgarians and Serbs, who were so 
attached to Turkey, from the onslaught of a cruel despot who 
had come to ravage their homes. Desperate attempts were 
made to render the cause of Turkey and the Sultan popular. 
Those who are old enough to remember the war will call to 
mind the absurd books which made their appearance at the 
time, many of them being mere collections of malignant 
anecdotes about Russia. Creasy's " History of the Turks," 
which had considerable vogue, where it is not directly copied 
from Von Hammer, is a political pamphlet written on behalf 
of the Turks, and cannot be read now without a feeling of 
amusement in the light of later events. Even the poet 
laureate caught up the cuckoo cry, and gave us a spasmodic 
poem, of which the philosophy is very much inferior to the 
verse. According to him the great remedy for an age, in 
which the cheats of trade were rampant, was to go on a 
blood-shedding adventure. 

We have digressed thus much in explaining the origin of 
the Crimean War, because it has been so much misrepre- 
sented, and because the character of Lord Aberdeen has been 
traduced. Subsequent events have shown that he was a 
far-sighted politician. 

Up to this time the war had been mainly in what were 
then styled the Danubian principalities, now the kingdom 



406 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1854 

of Roumania. This territory has for centuries formed one of 
the cockpits of Europe. The Russians entered the Dobrudzha, 
a somewhat dreary tract of land lying on the right bank of the 
Danube, consisting chiefly of marshes, and inhabited by Tatars. 
By the treaty of Berlin (1878) this has been given to Roumania 
in lieu of the piece of Bessarabia which she was forced to cede 
to Russia. Geographically the Dobrudzha (so called from the 
name of one of its former princes) belongs to Bulgaria. 

The aspect of affairs, however, began to look every day 
more threatening, and it was clear that great complications 
were arising. A deputation of Quakers who visited the Tsar 
with the hopes of even yet preventing a war, were received by 
him most affably, and came back with the impression that 
Nicholas was a man of many virtues. On the 10th March 
the Baltic fleet sailed from Spithead under Admiral Sir Charles 
Napier. Napier was a fine sailor of the old school. He un- 
fortunately indulged in some bombastic phraseology at a 
banquet given to him before setting out, when he talked 
about being soon in St Petersburg. This was afterwards 
remembered to his discredit. On the 28th of March Eng- 
land and France declared war. England may be said to 
have drifted into it without any very settled plans, and the 
Emperor Napoleon eagerly clutched at it, as tending to con- 
solidate his newly-founded dynasty. He was also chafing at 
small indignities which he had met with from the Tsar. On 
the 14th of April the Russians began the siege of Silistria (in 
Bulgaria), where the impending defeat of the Turks by the 
Russians was averted by the assistance afforded by two young 
Englishmen, Nasmyth and Butler, who joined the Turks on 
their way back from India. There were also many Poles 
fighting on the Turkish side. In this battle was killed one of 
the sons of the Russian historian Karamzin. On the 22nd 
of April the bombardment of Odessa began ; here, however, 
but little damage seems to have been done, the allies having 
scruples about attacking a purely commercial and undefended 
port. A memorial of the English attack may still be seen in 
a cannon ball imbedded in the monument erected on the 



1854] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 407 

beach to the Due de Richelieu, a French e??iigre, whose great 
share in the founding of the city has been already referred to. 

On the 1 2th of the following month the English steamer, 
the Tiger, ventured too near the coast, and was captured. - 
Captain GirTord was on this occasion wounded in the leg, and 
taken prisoner. He died of his wounds, and is buried in the 
cemetery of Odessa. The first English prisoners were treated 
with great courtesy, and as at that time little was known of 
the country in England, the narrative of the imprisonment of 
one of the captives (Lieut. Royer) was read with much 
interest. In the Danubian provinces fortune continued to 
alternate between the Russians and the Turks, and the war 
dragged on with nothing decisive happening. The English 
fleet effected but little in the Baltic. Too often we were 
engaged in burning defenceless villages and destroying 
property. Thus Sulivan (Life by his son, 1896) regrets 
the wanton destruction of private property by Admiral 
Plumridge. Some wonderful seamanship however was dis- 
played in Captain Hall's expedition in the White Sea, 
where we appear to have committed the mistake of attack- 
ing the Solovetski monastery. On August 16th in this year 
the fort of Bomarsund, on the Aland islands, was taken. 

Finally the expedition to the Crimea was determined upon. 
The English army had been for some time encamped near 
Varna, where it had lost many men by disease owing to the 
unhealthiness of the place. The allied forces seem to have 
been imperfectly acquainted with the condition of things in 
the Crimea. However on the 25th of August the expedition 
was announced. It was hoped that Russia would prove most 
vulnerable in this part of her dominions, it being considered 
to be largely populated by aliens. Moreover, this was the 
only point where Russia could be attacked, because both 
Prussia and Austria were then neutral, and allowed no pas- 
sage through their dominions. Great ignorance prevailed in 
England at that time about the strength of Russia. Writers 
in the newspapers talked of the Crimea being taken from the 
Russians and handed back to the Turks. They also con- 



4o8 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1854 

sidered that the populations of the Caucasus were homo- 
geneous and had political solidarity, and that the Georgians, 
who had endured Moslem persecution for centuries, would 
fight side by side with the Turks. It is hardly possible for the 
present generation to realise what ignorance prevailed on these 
questions. But we were destined to learn many things from 
the Crimean war. 

Although the allies were in reality so ignorant of the 
character of the Crimea, they seem to have entertained 
the idea of a siege of Sevastopol, without perhaps exactly 
realising how strong the place was. The Duke of New- 
castle, who was Secretary for War, wrote to the commander 
of the British forces on the 29th of June 1854 that he was 
to concert measures for the siege of Sebastopol, and added 
that the difficulties of the siege would rather increase than 
diminish by de ay. 

A few days after the invasion of the Crimea had been 
determined upon, occurred the ill-advised attack of the 
English upon Petropavlovski in Kamchatka. The allied fleets 
had been for some time at San Francisco and Honolulu, and 
after five weeks' voyage from the latter place appeared off 
Petropavlovski, on the extreme western coast of Kamchatka. 
The Russians had been well informed by spies ot our intended 
arrival, and were fully prepared to meet the allies when they 
came. Matters, however, were greatly complicated by the 
suicide of Admiral Price, who was in command and who 
shot himself in his cabin just as the action was about to 
commence. He was an old man and the responsibility is 
supposed to have unnerved him. The Russians, partly no 
doubt in consequence of the confusion in which everything 
was placed, succeeded in inflicting severe loss on the in- 
vading party. 

On the 5th of September the allied armaments began to 
leave Varna, and on the 16th they landed in the Crimea. 
21,000 English, 29,000 French, and 6,000 Turks disem- 
barked at Eupatoria, and the Crimean War had in reality 
begun. It has been said that the more convenient landing- 



1854] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 409 

place which had been marked out by the English was 
appropriated by the French who shifted the buoys. Certainly 
perfect unanimity was far from prevailing among the allies. 

General Hamley, and other reliable authorities, tell us of 
the miserable condition in which both the English and French 
troops were from the ravages of cholera. It had broken out 
just as the expedition was about to sail. Out of three French 
divisions, it destroyed or disabled 10,000 men, and our own 
regiments while in Bulgaria lost between five and six hundred. 
It also attacked the crews of some ships who put out to sea 
vainly hoping to avoid it. 

When embarking the troops were so enfeebled that they 
moved slowly from their camp, and as they were for the 
most part too weak to carry their knapsacks they were borne 
for them on pack-horses. The flotilla of the English was led 
and escorted by the naval Commander-in-Chief, Admiral 
Dundas. The Russian fleet when the allies entered the 
Black Sea lay in the fortified harbour of Sevastopol, one 
of the finest in the world. Their fleet consisted of fifteen 
sailing line-of-battle ships, some frigates and brigs, the 
Vladimir, a powerful steamer, and eleven of a lighter class. 
If the Russian fleet had ventured out to attack the allies 
while crossing the Black Sea it might have inflicted great 
havoc, but the risk would have been very great. The 
divisions of infantry were commanded by the Duke of 
Cambridge, General Bentinck, Sir Colin Campbell, Sir de 
Lacy Evans, Sir George Cathcart, and others. The Light 
Brigade of Cavalry was commanded by Lord Lucan. The 
Commander-in-Chief was Lord Raglan, who was at that 
time sixty-six years of age. He had served on Wellington's 
staff, and had lost an arm at Waterloo. He was a brave 
and competent man, but owing to the long continuation of 
the "piping times of peace," had hitherto no chance of 
developing his military talents. The news of his death 
during the campaign was received in England with the 
deepest regret : all Englishmen felt that he had died as a 
martyr at his post. Sir George Brown had been a dis- 



4io A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1854 

tinguished Peninsular officer, but since that time had been 
engaged chiefly in official work. Sir De Lacy Evans had 
fought in the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns. He had 
had later experience of practical warfare than some of his 
colleagues, having served in the British Legion in Spain. 
Sir George Cathcart had been on Wellington's staff at Quatre 
Bras and Waterloo. Sir Colin Campbell had seen much 
service in India. Most of the French generals had earned 
their spurs in Algeria, which was for the French army a 
training ground analogous to that which India had been for 
England, and the Caucasus for the Russians. 

The commander-in-chief of the French was he who went 
by the name of St Arnaud. It will be remembered that 
Kinglake, in his book in defence of Lord Raglan, has intro- 
duced the marshal in a very unfavourable manner as Jacques 
Arnaud Le Roy, one of the tools of Louis Napoleon in the 
coup d'etat. Hamley speaks more favourably of him. He 
calls him " a gallant man . . . but frothy and vain-glorious 
in a notable degree, and much too anxious to represent him- 
self as taking the chief part to be a comfortable ally." How- 
ever this may have been, the early death of St Arnaud 
prevented him from displaying any of his disagreeable 
qualities. 

Other French commanders, of whom much was subse- 
quently heard, were Pellisier, Canrobert, and Bosquet. 
Menshikov was the Russian commander-in-chief, afterwards 
to be succeeded by Gorchakov. It was owing to Menshikov's 
carelessness that the Russians suffered their repulse at the 
Alma. He was lineally descended from the favourite of 
Peter the Great, whose picturesque career has been described 
on an earlier page. The great engineer, whose fortification 
of Sevastopol justly raised him to a very high position among 
military scientists was Todleben. We shall meet with him 
later, figuring amid the sanguinary engagements around Plevna. 
Two other Russian commanders are especially noteworthy — 
Admirals Nakhimov and Kornilov, whose graves may now be 
seen in connexion with the fortifications of the Malakhov. 



1854] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 411 

On the 19th the advance of the armies began, the French 
being on the right next the sea. They moved straight for 
Sevastopol. The intervening country was level and grassy, 
and well adapted for the march, despite the absence of roads. 
Hamley, who was present throughout the campaign, and from 
whose excellent account of it we have occasionally drawn, 
mentions the first sight which the English had of St Arnaud. 
He was returning from a visit to Lord Raglan, and passed 
along the English front, " a tall, thin, sharp-visaged man, 
reduced by illness, but alert and soldier-like." In less than 
ten days St Arnaud was dead. The allied forces now moved 
across some grassy ridges, and the valley of the Alma lay 
before them. 

On September 20th, 1854, was fought the famous battle of 
the Alma, named after the river on which it was fought, which 
signifies, in the Tatar language, an apple. The Russians 
were defeated, as we have said, in a great measure through 
the bad generalship and negligence of Menshikov. The 
heights descend to the sea so abruptly that the Russian 
general seems to have relied upon them as natifral defences, 
and placed most of his men and guns further inland near the 
high road. The French stormed the heights, and the ships 
of the allies, keeping as close as they could to the shore, 
poured volleys of shot into the enemy. 

The English were somewhat confused by the burning of 
the village of Burliuk, in front of them j but gallantly crossed 
the river and carried the Russian redoubt. Menshikov, how- 
ever, was able to retire in tolerable order, and to carry off his 
guns. Military critics do not greatly praise the tactics of the 
allies. If Menshikov had displayed better generalship, with 
such a strong position he must certainly have succeeded. It 
would perhaps have been an advantageous thing for the allies 
to have marched straight upon Sevastopol, so that no time 
might be gained for the Russians to put it into a state of 
defence. Hamley, however, thinks that an immediate attack 
upon Sevastopol would have been not only a desperate but 
a fruitless enterprise, except on the condition that the allied 



412 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1845 

fleet could take a part in the attack. Had some of our 
ships engaged the forts, had the rest passed in and attacked 
the vessels of the enemy while the allied army stood on the 
heights above ready to descend, it is conceivable that Sevas- 
topol might have fallen. 

Hamley, in criticising the battle, at which he himself was 
present, says that it showed a singular absence of skill on all 
sides. The Russian general displayed great incompetency, 
he tells us, in leaving the issues of the cliffs unclosed, in 
keeping his reserves out of action, and in withdrawing his 
artillery and not using his cavalry. On the other hand, the 
part played by the French was not proportionate either to 
their force or their military repute. Of the two divisions 
brought at first on to the plateau, one brigade, that nearest 
the sea, together with all the Turks, never saw the enemy. 
With regard to the English, the General says there was 
no unity and no concerted plan, and our troops suffered 
accordingly. 

According to all accounts the English were quite ready to 
march, but St Arnaud and the French delayed them. During 
the three days which were allowed to pass between the battle 
of the Alma and the commencement of the march, no time 
was wasted by the Russians. Sevastopol is a place of unique 
strength, possessing a land-locked harbour; in fact its capa- 
cities in that direction were first pointed out by a Captain 
Mackenzie in the Russian service. General Todleben, the 
Russian engineer, was now to make his name famous, as he 
was afterwards to do in the attacks on Plevna. To bar the 
mouth of the harbour, Menshikov was obliged to sacrifice 
the Black Sea fleet. By this abandonment the Russians 
gained 18,000 sailors who could be employed in the batteries, 
and the valuable services of Admirals Nakhimov and Kernilov. 
The splendid talents of Todleben compensated to a certain 
extent for the incapacity of Menshikov. The former may 
perhaps be styled the only man of genius who came to the 
front on either side during the war. Thus when the allies 
came they found the enemy ready to receive them, and as 



1854] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 413 

the city was open on the northern side, in the direction of 
the Isthmus of Perekop, by which they could communicate 
with the mainland of Russia, it was only by an assault that 
it could be taken. Meantime the English were also active 
in Asiatic Turkey. General Williams reached Kars, and set 
about fortifying it. 

On the 26th of September the English took possession of 
Balaklava, which they made their headquarters. It was 
situated about six or seven miles from Sevastopol, on the 
southern coast of the Crimea. Three days afterwards, at the 
age of fifty-three, died the somewhat enigmatical Marshal St 
Arnaud, who had been in ill-health during the whole campaign, 
and had rather retarded the movements of the army. He had 
probably owed his position more to the circumstance that he 
was a supporter of Louis Napoleon in the coup d'6tat than to 
any special military talent. 

Meanwhile Todleben was actively fortifying the beleaguered 
city, and the English and French as actively getting ready the 
trenches, the traces of which can be clearly seen by the 
traveller even now, though nature "with a hand of healing" 
has long since resumed her power over these ruins where 
English, French and Russian met in deadly grapple. On 
the 17th of October the bombardment began, to which the 
Russians replied vigorously. In a few hours Todleben 
repaired all the mischief which had been done. On the 25th 
of October took place the Light Cavalry charge, famous for 
ever in history and song, but otherwise a great military 
blunder. It abundantly proved, what no one would dispute, 
the bravery of the British troops, but also showed what 
reckless men had the management of things, and how little 
knowledge of the science of war they possessed. It is only 
by the study of Kinglake's book that this heroic episode, so 
terrible in its effects, can be understood. Lord Cardigan and 
Lord Lucan were brothers-in-law, but not, it appears, on 
speaking terms at the time. An order was sent by the latter 
for a body of the light dragoons, to the number of about 600 
men, to endeavour to recapture some Turkish guns. The 



4 i4 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1854 

order was brought by a certain Captain Nolan, a man of 
talent, who had served in the Austrian army, and had written 
a good book on cavalry manoeuvres. When Cardigan 
hesitated to carry out an order which at the first blush 
appeared to him an absurdity, Nolan merely reiterated the 
order, and interpreted it in the way in which it pleased him 
best. The men, led by Cardigan, accordingly rode into 
sheer destruction, with the Russian guns surrounding them on 
every side. So amazed w T ere the Russians at the whole pro- 
ceeding that they thought at first the affair was a feint, a mere 
stratagem to divert their attention. When, however, they 
realised the blunder that had been made, they attacked their 
assailants from all quarters, and out of that brilliant body of 
men only a few more than a hundred escaped. History will 
probably at a future period speak more decisively and more 
critically of the matter ; but Kinglake has not hesitated to tell 
us that if Cardigan had not ridden so quickly out of the hell 
into which they had plunged, he might have rallied the men, 
and more would have been saved. 

This wonderful charge, which however tactically weak, must 
be felt to have brought much glory upon the English arms, is 
described at great length by General Hamley. The order 
given by Lord Raglan to begin with was vague. Lord Lucan 
did not understand its purpose, and Nolan, who was an 
enthusiastic believer in the power of cavalry, ventured to 
interpret it as signifying that the English should endeavour 
to recapture some guns which the Russians were carrying off. 
Lucan accordingly gave the order to Cardigan, and the ride 
began. As soon as the brigade was in motion Captain Nolan 
rode obliquely across the front of it, waving his sword. Lord 
Cardigan thought that he was undertaking to lead the brigade. 
What his exact intentions were will never be known, for a 
fragment of the first shell fired by the enemy struck him in 
the breast. His horse turned round and carried him back, 
still in the saddle, through the ranks of the 13th, when the 
rider, already lifeless, fell to the ground. The brigade, when 
the charge was over, had lost 247 men in killed and wounded. 



1854] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 415 

Close to the ditch of the field-work on the last hill of the 
ridge on our side lay the body of Nolan on its back, the 
jacket open, the breast pierced by the fatal splinter. An hour 
before the division had passed him on the heights, where he 
was riding near the staff conspicuous in his red forage cap and 
tiger-skin saddle. 

Passing over minor incidents, we now come to the great 
battle of Inkermann, fought in the early morning of November 
5, 1854. In the misty dawn the bells of the churches in 
Sevastopol could be heard. A solemn mass was celebrated ; 
the English leopards were to be driven into the sea. The 
Grand Dukes Michael and Nicholas had come to be present 
at the battle. The English had been suffering many priva- 
tions in their camp caused by the bad management, which 
seemed universal. Gradually the outlying pickets were driven 
in, and swarms of grey-coated Russians, hardly distinguish- 
able in the mist, were seen pouring upon them from all 
quarters. Inkermann may be classed among those battles in 
which the splendid mettle of which the English soldier is 
made has had to contend with insufficient military know- 
ledge on the part of his superior officers. The slaughter of 
the Russians was no doubt great; but how great was also 
that of the English ! Several officers of high rank were 
killed, including Sir George Cathcart. The Guards also lost 
some of their most conspicuous officers. It was a battle in 
which there was hardly any room for tactics. Separate parties 
engaged each other, but there was no general plan of the 
battle. We, however, held our ground. Probably the French 
exaggerate when they assert that we should have been defeated 
had it not been for their timely aid. 

General Hamley thus criticises Inkermann: "This extra- 
ordinary battle closed with no final charge nor victorious 
advance on the one side, no desperate stand nor tumultuous 
flight on the other." The Russians melted away, as it were, 
from the field ; the English were too few and too exhausted, 
and the French made no effort, to convert the repulse into a 
rout. 



416 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1855 

The gloom of the November evening descended upon 
a field strewn with the dead and dying. The Russians are 
said to have lost 12,000 men in this battle and 256 officers. 
The English lost 597 killed, of whom 39 were officers, and 
1760 wounded, of whom 91 were officers. The French are 
computed to have lost 13 officers and 130 men killed, and 36 
officers and 750 men wounded. 

The Russians were now reduced almost entirely to the 
defensive. The city was still admirably fortified by Todleben. 
All were struck by the rapidity with which he formed new 
works. The allies were amazed at the creation of the white 
works, as they were called (the Selinghinsk and Volhynian 
redoubts), which were to defend the approaches to the 
Malakhov (February 2, 1855). Menshikov was now recalled, 
and Gorchakov was sent in his place. 

The English fleet this year did not carry off trophies in any- 
way commensurate with its strength. It was not able to 
attack Cronstadt, and when the attempt was made in the 
following year (1855), the fortifications had already been 
greatly strengthened. 

The winter of 1854-5 was a severe one, and was felt more 
than ordinarily so in the neighbourhood of the Black Sea and 
in the trenches. Our men were badly housed and badly fed, 
and many of the wounded suffered a great deal from the want 
of necessaries. This was all owing to bad management, as 
vessels loaded with supplies were in the harbour. 

The siege dragged on. But the strength of the Empire 
was being gradually exhausted. By February 50,000 Russians 
were already kors de combat, and among them Kornilov, 
the most illustrious victim. The troops arrived in the 
Crimea worn out by the long marches and the miserable 
roads. 

In Tanuary Sardinia joined the allies. This little country 
had in reality no grievance against Russia, with whose Eastern 
policy she had not been brought into collision ; but it was 
part of a plan of Cavour's, so that something might be done 
for Italy if the Italian question could be introduced into the 



1855] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 41 7 

great European conference which was sure to follow the 
termination of the war. 

The Aberdeen Ministry, owing to its supposed dilatoriness, 
had been forced to resign. Some thought that Lord Aber- 
deen, like so many of the good old Conservatives of the 
period, was sympathetic with Russia. And, indeed, it was 
rather difficult for them to understand that they must suddenly 
execute a volte face. Nicholas and his Russians in the old 
time had been considered the very pillars of good govern- 
ment. When the Poles in their death struggles in 1831 had 
appealed to the English, they were told that this country did 
not want a French outpost established on the Vistula. Old 
Conservative gentlemen were seen attending great functions 
blazing with Russian orders. They had occasionally visited 
the Emperor and were hospitably entertained by him. Cer- 
tainly the Tsar had a wonderfully genial manner, which won 
the hearts of those who came in contact with him. We have 
recently some pleasant recollections of this sort in the 
memoirs of Sir Charles Murray. Nicholas was genial and 
hearty to young persons, and never forgot the face of an 
acquaintance. We cannot wonder, therefore, that he had 
many friends in our country. The traditions of the English 
had been decidedly pro-Russian before this unfortunate war. 
It was they who had stood with us in our struggles with 
Napoleon, who had acquired almost the mastery of Europe. 
Nicholas seems to have relied too much upon the sympathies 
of an English party. It was reported that he said when 
the Crimean war was just breaking out, " I am sure my 
old friend Aberdeen will not be against me." But in reality 
Aberdeen had shown throughout true patriotism and a far- 
seeing policy. 

On February 5 the new Palmerston ministry came in, under 
the leadership of a man who had a reputation for a spirited 
foreign policy. But on March 2 the great Emperor died 
There does not appear to be the least truth in the report 
which some people then and afterwards attempted to circulate 
that the Emperor died a violent death either by the hands of 

2 D 



4i 8 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1855 

others or his own. In a very raw spring he had foolishly 
exposed himself, and was hurried to his grave by a chest 
disease. If we scrutinise the annals of the house of 
Romanov we shall find that its members have not been 
a long-lived race. Alexander, Constantine and Michael, 
the brothers of Nicholas, did not live to be old men, nor 
were his sons and daughters long-lived. Thus after a 
few days' illness the great Tsar expired. On his death- 
bed he said to the Tsesarevich : " Thou seest at what 
a time and under what circumstances I die ; thus it has 
seemed good to God ; it will be hard for thee." He enjoined 
him to emancipate the serfs — a necessary measure, but one 
which would shake Russia to the centre. 

Thus died the Emperor in the fifty-ninth year of his age. 
He sleeps with the other Tsars in a tomb of white marble in 
the Petropavlovski Church at St Petersburg. He had married, 
as previously stated, Charlotte, the daughter of King Frederick 
William of Prussia and sister of the Emperor William I. 
(f i860). On her entry into the Greek Church she received 
the name of Alexandra Feodorovna. The children of this 
marriage were as follows: — (1) Alexander, who succeeded; 
(2) Constantine, f 1892 ; (3) Nicholas, f 1891 ; (4) Michael; 
and three daughters : Maria, who married Maximilian, Duke 
of Leuchtenberg, and died in 1876; Olga, who became 
Queen of Wiirtemberg, and died in 1892 ; and Alexandra, 
who married Frederick of Hesse-Cassel, and died in 1844. 
The character of Nicholas comes out clearly in his reign ; he 

was the embodiment of an autocrat, a man of fine command- 

j 

ing presence and of an iron will.V-He seems, however, to have 
been capable of generous actions, and was, according to all 
testimonies, devoted to his family. 

In his reign another complete codification of the Russian 
laws took place, the last one having been in the time of 
Catherine. In territory Russia gained the eastern coast of 
the Black Sea, and some Persian provinces. Although the 
age of Nicholas has always been spoken of as one of repres- 
sion and reaction, and certainly the censorship was allowed to 

I 



1855] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 419 

have great power, it was ornamented by a brilliant series of 
writers, whom Russia has hardly been able to match since, to 
mention only such names as Pushkin, Zhukovski, Gogol, 
and Bielinski. 

In pursuance of the plan which has been previously 
followed before quitting the reign of Nicholas, we will say 
a few words about some of the most eminent. 

Alexander Pushkin was born at Moscow in 1799, and was 
killed in a duel in 1837. He early became a writer of 
poetry, and even in his Lyceum days had lisped in numbers. 
In a brief notice like the present it would hardly be possible 
to give anything like a detailed account of his writings, for 
although his life was short, he produced a great deal. We see 
the influence of Byron in his earlier poems : the narrative in 
verse, then so popular throughout Europe. His " Ruslan 
and Liudmila " is a graceful reproduction of some of the old 
folk tales of Russia. Pushkin turned his attention to them at 
a time when they were generally ignored. The furore for this 
kind of literature is quite of modern origin. Probably the 
great charm communicated by the picturesque history of 
Karamzin made people in Russia begin to think of these 
things. 

In the " Gypsies " (Tsigani) we have a very spirited sketch of 
the wild life led by these denizens of the steppes. " Poltava " 
tells the story of Mazeppa, but from a different point of view 
from that of the tale made use of by Byron. Besides these there 
is the wonderful " Evgenii Oniegin " with its sparkling verse, 
in which Pushkin has caught the Byronic and Italian manner. 
Every style of poetry is found in this rhymed novel — satire, 
pathos, character-painting, and description. There is also a 
good play by our author on Boris Godunov, a very picturesque 
figure in Russian history. 

This is interesting also in another way, as the first attempt 
to produce a Shaksperian drama in Russian, with the proper 
neglect of the unities. Pushkin, a hot-tempered man, with 
oriental blood in his veins, was killed in a miserable dispute 
with a young foreigner, who only died a year or so ago in 



420 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i855 

Alsace. The reign of Nicholas, however, was not only to boast 
the chief Russian poet, but also him who is confessedly the 
second in rank — Michael Lermontov. The life of Lermontov 
(1814-1841) was as meteoric as that of his predecessor. He 
was an officer in the army, and his muse was inspired by the 
scenery of the Caucasus, where a great part of his life was 
spent. To this influence his best poems are owing as the 
" Demon " and the " Novice " (Mtsiri, a Georgian word). 
He was also the author of many lyrics of great beauty 
which are universally known in Russia. He was killed in 
1 84 1 in a duel in the Caucasus at Piatigorsk. His antago- 
nist was a certain Martinov, whom indeed the poet had pro- 
voked into challenging him. Lermontov felt the influence of 
the old Russian bilini, and has imitated them with great 
success. To the reign of Nicholas also belongs Koltsov 
( 1 809-1 842), a man of inferior education, and son of a 
tallow merchant, but who contrived in a marvellous manner 
to imitate Russian popular poetry. In some respects he re- 
sembles Burns, but he is wholly lacking in the humour of 
the Scotch poet. He possesses, however, something of his 
pathos and happy natural expressions of rustic life. Some 
of his poems enjoy great popularity in Russia. Krilov 
( 1 768-1 844) has made himself known by his clever fables, 
which have become celebrated throughout Europe. After 
those of Lafontaine they are certainly the best in any litera- 
ture, and the fable seems more in its native country amid 
the semi-oriental Russians than amid the elegant, dainty 
courtiers of Louis XIV. The fable is the literature of auto- 
cracy, where a writer may put into the mouths of animals 
those free sentiments which he cannot put into the mouths 
of men. Krilov certainly resembles Lafontaine in one point : 
he abounds in clever distichs and curt phrases, which have 
passed into proverbs. He really belongs more to the reign of 
Alexander than that of Nicholas. To the reign of the latter 
certainly must be assigned the celebrated Russian critic, 
Bessarion Bielinski, the greatest whom the country has pro- 
duced up to the present time. He died in 1848, aged thirty- 



1855] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 421 

eight years. From his time a higher conception of art has 
existed in Russia ; his criticism of Pushkin is a very finished 
piece of writing. The novel gradually found a place in Russian 
literature; at first by way of translations. Strange to say 
the Russians of the eighteenth century enjoyed Richardson, 
Fielding, Smollett and Sterne, in this way. The writing of 
original novels seems first to have been stimulated by the 
immense popularity of Sir Walter Scott. We need not trouble 
ourselves about those of Bulgarin, whom Pushkin lashed so 
unmercifully. Lazhechnikov and Zagoskin are not quite 
forgotten even now; they showed a certain skill in telling 
a story. But a brilliant genius was to appear in the person 
of Nicholas Gogol (1809-185 2). There is much in him that 
reminds us of Dickens, but neither author could have imitated 
the other. The chief writings of Gogol, those in which the 
impress of his genius is most conspicuous, precede those of 
Dickens in order of time, and certainly the English author 
never heard of his Russian antitype, whose name has been 
very slow in its travels to our island. In his Dutch style of 
painting of the personal appearance of his characters and 
their surroundings, and his little quiet strokes of humour, 
Gogol and Dickens are very much alike. Manilov and 
Sobakievich in the " Dead Souls," could certainly have been 
painted by Dickens, and are in his manner. So also the 
story of the cloak and the quaint sufferings of the poor clerk, 
are very Dickensesque. Dickens would have described in 
the same picturesque way the sleepy antiquated house in 
the " Old-Fashioned Proprietors " (Starosvetskte Pomietschiki) 
when in the hot afternoons the doors lazily turned on their 
hinges, each uttering a different and appropriate sound. In 
others of his tales Gogol reminds us of Edgar Poe ; he loves 
to go to the land of magic and improbabilities. He is seen 
in all his strength in this way in such writings as " Vii " and 
" Christmas Eve." With Gogol begins the great series of 
Russian realistic novelists, extending to our own days. 
He was followed by Turgueniev, Dostoievski, and Leo 
Tolstoi, and has a worthy successor in such a novelist 



422 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1855 

as Chekhov, now living. The other three will be discussed 
later on. 

We have spoken already of the Russian historian Karamzin. 
Oustrialov wrote a very useful, if not brilliant, history, and 
Granovski, who was a professor at Moscow, and friend of the 
novelist Turgueniev, was a man of considerable repute. He 
was one of the few Russians who have dealt with the history 
of any other country but their own. The great changes 
which have come over Russian literature must be discussed 
in the reign of Alexander II. 

Before quitting the authors of the reign of Nicholas some- 
thing more must be said of Zhukovski, who, although he was 
very vigorous in the time of Alexander, seems to be far more 
the poet of the reign of Nicholas. He was appointed Russian 
tutor to the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, when she came 
to the country. Zhukovski died at Baden in 1852. His 
services to Russian literature were immense. Although his 
published works consist chiefly of translations, he conferred a 
great benefit by showing of what elegance and harmony the 
Russian language was capable. His translations are mostly 
from English and German ; from Byron, Moore, Gray, 
Schiller, Uhland and Gothe. He may be said to have 
paved the way for Pushkin, a man of more original genius, 
but not of more elegant style. One excellent change was 
introduced in the reign of Nicholas. Russian was now 
the court language. The Russians were growing ashamed 
of using a foreign tongue, and living in a state of pupil- 
lage. It would be curious to ascertain when the absurd 
fashion of speaking French came in. Peter the Great and 
the members of his family used nothing but Russian. The 
only other language which that Tsar understood was Dutch, 
and we must remember that Dutch had much importance 
in his time, as the language of navigation and trade. The 
naval words in the Russian language are either taken from 
English or Dutch, as a glance at a dictionary will show. 
The letters of the Empresses Anne and Elizabeth are in 
Russian, as we see in the Collection of those of the Imperial 



1855] THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I. 423 

family, published at Moscow in 1862. The Frenchifying of 
the court really seems to date from the reign of Catherine II. 
Alexander wrote a great number of letters in French, as did 
also Nicholas certainly at one period of his reign. We even 
have aristocratic persons, like the celebrated Princess Zenaida 
Wolkonskaya, beginning as authors in French, and later on 
turning to their native language. 



[185; 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II 

T X 7HEN the new Tsar ascended the throne he found the 
* * country in a very critical condition. Russia was being 
exhausted by the drain upon her. The English, although 
their efforts had not been crowned with any very brilliant 
results, were well furnished with the sinews of war; the 
French had got tired of the campaign which now dragged 
on. A new element was added by the appearance of 15,000 
Sardinians in the field. The English had some success in 
the Black Sea, and Kertch was taken. Previous to this on 
March 22 the Russians made a great sortie from Sevastopol, 
which was ultimately driven back. Sometimes clothed in 
the long grey coat of the ordinary soldier there fell dead 
into the trenches some officer whose high rank could only 
be guessed by the decorations underneath it. 

On April 4th a second Baltic fleet left Spithead ; the 
Russians, however, had profited by the experience of the pre- 
ceding year and had carefully fortified many exposed places. 
The English were annoyed when later on this fleet returned hav- 
ing accomplished so little. A great deal of fighting took place 
about the rifle-pits in the beginning of May. Towards the end 
of that month the allied fleets entered the Sea of Azov, but it 
must be confessed their achievements there did not add much 
to their glory. It was of little use to destroy some fishing 
stations and to sack the museum of Kertch. Better work 
was done by cannonading Taganrog but it led to nothing. 
About this time occurred in the Baltic what is sometimes 
incorrectly described as the Hango massacre. The Russians 
complained that the English chose their own places for land- 



1855] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 425 

ing prisoners and seized the opportunity when they did of 
taking soundings and sketching fortifications. There seems, 
however, good reason for thinking that the Russians did not 
really see the flag of truce (Life and Letters of Sir B. J. 
Sulivan, 295). The fall of Sevastopol was now approaching. 
On the 6th of June took place the third bombardment, the feu 
cFenfer as they were called at the time. The hill styled the 
Mamelon was soon afterwards taken. In Sevastopol itself 
the Russians had suffered greatly, and two of their most dis- 
tinguished naval commanders had been killed, Admiral 
Nakhimov, the hero of Sinope, and Admiral Kornilov. The 
places of their death are accurately marked among the many 
graves lying in that valley of the shadow. On the 18th of 
June the English and French were repulsed from the Mala- 
khov and the Redan. The arrangements had been badly 
made, the rockets were fired in a confused manner, and the 
assaulting parties did not go forward simultaneously. The 
raw recruits were not able to hold their position, and leaped 
back from the embrasures. Many brave men gave up their 
lives there, among others Colonel Lacy Yea. On the 28th 
died Lord Raglan, the English commander-in-chief, a noble- 
minded man to vindicate whose memory Kinglake wrote his 
book. Raglan was perhaps too old a man to undertake such 
an expedition, but he thought it his duty to do so, and he 
gave up his life as truly for his country as if he had met his 
fate in the field of battle. 

In the Baltic at the beginning of August took place the capture 
of the fort of Sveaborg which protects Helsingfors ; but it had 
no practical results, just as the conquest of the Aland isles in 
the previous year had none. In the Crimea the Sardinians 
won the battle of the Chernaya (Black River), 10th of August. 
It is interesting to think that the great novelist, Tolstoi, fought 
in the Russian ranks on that occasion. How easily might 
the chance shot of an Italian peasant have deprived the world 
of the masterpieces " War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina." 

Finally, after three days of terrible bombardment, the 
Malakhov was taken by assault (Sept. 8) and Sevastopol be- 



426 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i856 

came untenable. The Russians abandoned the southern 
side of the city. They were seen in the night hurrying with 
their ammunition and stores across a bridge of boats. They 
left to the English and French only blood-stained ruins and 
no attempt could be made to occupy the place, which afforded 
no protection. As some compensation for the humiliation 
which she had undergone Russia had been able to take Kars 
from the Turks (Nov. 25) although it had been bravely 
defended by Colonel Fenwick Williams. The so-called 
Mingrelian expedition of Omar Pasha ended in a complete 
failure ; he found the people whom he imagined he was going 
to raise against the Russians wholly unsympathetic. 

But the French were getting tired of the alliance ; they had 
accomplished their object, and all things looked to peace. 
There was a certain jealousy of England throughout. The 
representatives of England, France, Austria, Russia, and 
Turkey signed the preliminaries of peace (Feb. 25th, 1856). 
The final peace was signed at Paris on the 16th of April. 
Russia gave back Kars to Turkey, and regained the places in the 
Crimea which had been taken by the Allies. She renounced 
the protectorate of the Danubian principalities, which were 
to receive a new organisation under the suzerainty of the 
Sultan and the control of Europe. She renounced also all 
pretensions to a protectorate of the Christian subjects of the 
Sultan ; and she submitted to a rectification of her frontiers, 
i.e. she ceded a portion of Bessarabia to that state which 
was afterwards to become Roumania, although at the time 
entitled the Danubian principalities. Russia also lost her 
right of having ships of war in the Black Sea, and she was 
not to fortify the Aland Islands. Some of the signatories 
of the treaty were anxious that a clause should be inserted 
whereby the Sultan should stipulate that his Christian sub- 
jects should enjoy religious freedom. This was mainly 
suggested by England ; but to save the susceptibilities of 
the Sultan, it was announced that this declaration proceeded 
from "the free inspiration of his sovereign will." The 
Powers, on the other hand, agreed in no way to interfere 



1856] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 427 

in the government of Turkey. Moreover, the integrity of 
the Ottoman Empire was guaranteed. 

Such were the terms of the Treaty of Paris, which, for 
selfish reasons, abandoned the Christians to the tender 
mercies of their Mohammedan masters. Forty-three years 
have elapsed since it was signed, and it may be truly said 
that all the Powers who were co-signatories of it have 
repudiated it. It is rather amusing to see how few of the 
conditions have been held binding. Kars now belongs to 
Russia. The Danubian principalities have now become the 
kingdom of Roumania, entirely independent of the Sultan. 
The portion of Bessarabia, which had been ceded to 
Roumania, has been taken back again by Russia, and 
Roumania has received a kind of compensation by accept- 
ing the comparatively worthless province of the Dobrudzha, 
with its Tatars. Russia has acquired the right of having 
ships of war in the Black Sea, and Sevastopol is rebuilt 
as a military and naval fortress. The Sultan has never made 
the slightest effort to concede any privileges to his Christian 
subjects, and even if he had attempted anything of the kind 
would not have been able to carry it out. His signature, as 
far as that part of the treaty went, was a lie. 

Russia, by this treaty, receded for a time from the position 
which she had held in Europe. But she has completely 
regained it in our own days. Now freed from war, she 
began to set herself about building up again the fabric of 
her social life. There was an enormous reaction after the 
Crimean War, which had humiliated the nation, and liberal 
ideas began to prevail. The next great step was the 
Emancipation of the Serfs. 

Serfdom in Russia, as in all Slavonic countries, is a 
modern institution. In Poland and Bohemia it dates from 
the fifteenth century; in Russia from the close of the six- 
teenth, and we may say even later. It was Boris Godunov 
who first chained the serf to the soil, for economic reasons 
solely, as Chicherin shows. But he was not legally fixed to 
the soil till the Ulozhenie^ or Ordinance of the Emperor 



428 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isei 

Alexis, in 1649. Peter the Great did something to amend 
his position, as we have seen, and there was a gradual, but, 
it must be confessed, slowly developed desire to give him 
liberty altogether. It was felt that this must be done, but 
no monarch seems to have had the courage to carry through 
such a great economic revolution. On his death-bed 
Nicholas had enjoined it upon his son, and in 1861 the 
Act of Emancipation was carried. Twenty-two millions of 
human beings received their freedom. The landlords were 
to be paid an indemnity, and released their serfs from their 
seigniorial obligations, and the land of the village commune 
became the actual property of the serfs. The indemnity was 
paid by the help of sums advanced by the government, and 
an interest of six per cent, was added ; in forty-six years' time 
the government was to be entirely reimbursed. 

This great economic revolution was carried with com- 
paratively few outbreaks on the part of the peasants. In 
some districts of Russia, as, for instance, the Government 
of Kazan, there were riots among the peasants, who could 
not understand how it was that they had to pay for land 
which they had always regarded as their own. It is just 
in the same way that the Irish peasant cannot understand 
why he has to pay rent. Special commissioners were ap- 
pointed, and district judges, to arrange the complicated 
questions between the proprietors and the peasants. These 
riots were soon quelled, although they were frequently taken 
advantage of by Anarchists. Two ardent labourers in this 
great work were Yuri Samarin and Cherkasski. The 
Schlakhta, or petite noblesse of Russia, seemed to have 
suffered the most, as they were in the habit of employing 
their peasants as domestics, and were thus deprived of 
their services. 

Alexander II. surrounded himself with liberal coadjutors, 
as if to break as much as possible with the old order of 
things. Valuyev became Minister of the Interior, Reutern 
of Finance, Dmitri Milutin of War, and Golovnin of 
Public Instruction. In 1864 the law was promulgated by 

v ) • 



Vj m* 



1863] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 429 

which the Zemstvos were created. These are provincial 
assemblies, consisting of representatives of the landed pro- 
prietors, the artisans and peasants, who regulate the inci- 
dence of taxation, and settle matters affecting public health, 
roads, and other provincial needs. A great deal was done 
for education, and the universities were made practically 
independent. Besides the schools in which Latin was taught, 
other more practical institutions were founded, something like 
the modern schools among ourselves. It is interesting to 
see that the same subject has been vehemently discussed in 
Russia as has been agitating the teaching of this country. 
In both there has been a tendency to throw off the shackles 
of medievalism, which in Russia seem even more intrusive 
than among ourselves. The finances also of the country, 
which had been greatly embarrassed by the Crimean war, 
now under judicious management, began to ameliorate. In 
187 1 Russia was financially sound. 

In 1863 broke out the second great Polish insurrection; 
the country had for some time been in a disturbed condition. 
To draw a simile from the celebrated poem of Mme. Rostop- 
chin, the wife, although many presents had been made to her, 
hated her compulsory marriage with the Baron, her husband. 
The repression exercised by Nicholas had not been successful ; 
her political life being apparently extinct, Poland had clung 
to her religion and language. At the commencement of his 
reign (April the 21st, 1856), Alexander had made a memor- 
able speech to the deputies of the nobility at Warsaw. He 
had said that he wished the past to be forgotten, but he 
concluded his speech with the memorable words : " Gentle- 
men, let us have no dreams ! " 

In the same year Prince Michael Gorchakov appeared as 
governor, and commenced a mild regime. Offers were made 
to the Polish emigres to return, under somewhat favourable 
conditions, but few availed themselves of the offer. Scattered 
throughout Europe, especially in France, Switzerland and Eng- 
land, they formed a considerable body, and might roughly be 
divided into two classes : the whites or moderates, who looked 



43o A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

up to Prince Adam Czartoryski as their head, and the red or 
revolutionary party. Adam Czartoryski had, however, died 
in 1 86 1, and his place had been taken by his son Ladislaus, 
also now deceased. Those of the nobility who had remained in 
their native country lived quietly on their estates, and secretly 
did what they could to unite their countrymen. The Russians, 
however, did not interfere with them unless they entered into 
communication with the emigres. They continued as of old 
to exercise a certain patriarchal government on their estates — 
the kind of government which always sejms congenial to the 
Slav, till he has been brought under other influences. The 
condition of the peasants was that of complete serfdom. 
There was, however, a society among the nobles, the chief 
of which was Prince Andrew Zamojski, who were bent upon 
improving the condition of the land and the peasants upon 
it, and this was called the Agricultural Society. Prince Andrew 
Zamojski was a man of liberal ideas, who had been educated 
in the University of Edinburgh. So popular did this society 
become, that it soon numbered more than 5000 supporters. 
Zamojski managed to keep it for some time without coming 
into direct collision with the Government, but it soon became 
evident that its development would be interfered with. 

For some time there had been a restlessness in the country, 
and political manifestations began to take place in the streets. 
The churches were filled with people in mourning, who sang 
the pathetic Polish hymn, Boze, cos Polske ! On a service 
being held in commemoration of the battle of Grochow riots 
occurred, and some of the spectators were killed. When 
the funeral of the victims took place one hundred thousand 
persons followed the procession. Alexander was willing to 
make many concessions to the Poles ; he established muni- 
cipal councils at Warsaw and in other cities of Poland. The 
Marquis Wielopolski, a Pole, was appointed Director of Public 
Instruction, and Polish was to be the official language of the 
ancient kingdom. On the other hand, on the 6th of April 
1861, the Agricultural Society was suppressed. The Poles 
seemed apathetic about the concessions of the Emperor. A 



1863] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 431 

large gathering of the people took place, and was fired on by 
the Russian troops. It does not seem clear whether this 
deplorable event resulted by accident, or whether the Russians 
mistook the purpose of the Poles in singing the celebrated 
war song of Dembinski, Jeszcze Polska nie zginela. 

The government, however, still hoped to be able to arrange 
matters, and General Lambert was now appointed Viceroy, 
charged with a mission altogether conciliatory. He allowed 
the celebration at Horodlo, near Lublin, of a grand fete in 
honour of the ancient union of Poland and Lithuania. The 
anniversary of the death of Kosciuszko (the 15th of October) 
saw the churches thronged with people, and led to the arrest 
of large numbers. Gerstenzweig, the governor of the town, 
committed suicide in consequence of the reproaches of 
General Lambert, who was recalled, and replaced by General 
Liiders. This administration also proved a failure, and the 
Grand Duke Constantine, the Tsar's brother, was appointed 
Viceroy in 1862. 

Meanwhile the extreme party had been very active. On the 
27th of June an attempt was made upon the life of General 
Liiders, two attacks were made upon the Grand Duke Con- 
stantine, and two upon Wielopolski, but they were all un- 
successful. The moderate party in the country seemed to 
feel no sympathy with the changes introduced. The more 
concessions made to them the more their demands seemed to 
grow. Thus even those who were prepared to accept the 
Tsar's reforms required that Lithuania and the eastern pro- 
vinces should be reunited to Poland. On the night of 
January 15, 1863, a number of persons obnoxious to the 
government were seized in their beds and forced to serve in 
the Russian army. 

The insurrection now broke out, and was directed by a 
secret committee at Warsaw called Rzad (the government). 
The proceedings of this institution were mysterious, like those 
of the Fehmgerichte. No one could tell whence their pro- 
clamations emanated, but they were widely diffused and struck 
terror. The extreme Russian party was especially angry at 



432 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1868 

the attempt of the Poles to claim Lithuania as Polish. It 
had been in its earliest days Orthodox, and most of the 
governments which composed it were of Little Russian 
nationality. As the Russians made so little progress in 
putting an end to the insurrection, the Emperor sent for 
Count M. Muraviev, a veteran, who had been wounded at 
Borodino, and at the time of his appointment was sixty-seven 
years of age. He nominated him dictator of the whole north- 
western district, and his headquarters were to be at Vilna, 
where he arrived on the 26th of May 1863. At that time the 
rule of the Russians was at a very low ebb throughout the 
country. According to the account of a Russian writer the 
military received the new governor joyfully, but the civil 
authorities, most of whom were Poles, with visible dis- 
pleasure. The Jews were on the fence, as the saying is, 
waiting to see what would happen. The Roman Catholic 
clergy spoke of all attempts at quelling the insurrection as 
likely to fail, and declared that the insurgents were compara- 
tively few in number and insignificant. Soldiers were now 
distributed by Muraviev over the whole district, and the 
villagers were fined if it was found that any among their 
number had joined the insurgents. There were also fines to 
be paid by all those who wore mourning. Sentences on 
leaders of bands were pronounced and carried out at 
once. Thus two priests were executed in one week for 
complicity in the insurrection. The landed proprietors 
found themselves in a very awkward position. The bands of 
the insurgents visited their estates, and if they would not help 
them frequently put them to death. Sometimes the Russian 
soldiers found an unfortunate gentleman hanging by the neck 
in his own drawing-room. On the other hand, if they helped 
the rebels in any way they were executed by the Russians. 
They received orders from the St Petersburg government to 
reside on their estates, and were held responsible if any dis- 
turbances took place upon them. The peasants in many 
places were formed into a rural guard, for it is well known 
that frequently they showed no sympathy with the insurrection. 



1863] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 433 

The Russians had 87,000 men in Poland, against whom 
the insurgents were powerless in spite of their bravery. 
Indeed all thinking persons are agreed that this last great 
Polish insurrection was ill-planned and never had a chance of 
success. Owing to the frontier in the direction of Prussia 
being sealed and everything being done to impede the insur- 
gents, most of the fighting took place on the borders of 
Galicia. The Poles contended with enormous difficulties ; 
they could never take a town, as they had no artillery for the 
purpose. They trusted rather to the dense forests with which 
the country abounds. They were for the most part undis- 
ciplined, except when they were returned emigres who had 
seen foreign service. They frequently had no muskets, but 
were armed with pikes, scythes, and even sticks. The 
Russians on the other hand had the benefit of the latest 
weapons. Moreover the insurgents had hardly any medical 
appliances, and wonderful stories are related even in the 
Russian accounts of their firmness amid unparalleled sufferings. 

The bands of insurgents generally consisted of priests, small 
landowners, petty officials, and peasants without land. Marian 
Langiewicz succeeded in getting a band of 3060 men, and 
after fighting for three days was forced to cross the frontier 
into Galicia. Meanwhile the Secret Committee was very 
active and was directed by a Council of five. Armed agents 
were appointed to carry out the secret decrees of the Govern- 
ment (Rzad) by assassination. This Government even had 
its special seal which was affixed to all its documents. The 
emissaries who carried out the orders for putting obnoxious 
people to death were called stiletchiki, because they carried 
secret daggers. Their first victim was the secretary of Wiel- 
polski, who was killed as a spy. A singular case was that of 
the Jewish spy Hermani who was stabbed in the Hotel 
de l'Europe at Warsaw, a building full of secret passages and 
interminable labyrinths. His treachery to the cause of the 
insurgents had been proved by one of the secret em^- 
visiting the house of the governor-general, disguh 
Russian tchincvnik, during his absence and open. 
2 E 



434 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i8t>3 

cabinet with false keys. Muraviev at Vilna got up a petition 
among the nobility there to show their reconciliation with the 
government. The head of these nobles was a certain 
Domejko. The Rzad at once sent its sicarii from Warsaw to 
Vilna with the object of killing some of the more loyal of the 
nobles, and an attempt was accordingly made upon the life 
of Domejko. As this incident was one of the strangest in 
the insurrection we will describe it at greater length. 

One morning Domejko was sitting in his study, reading 
the newspaper, when an unknown person, unobserved by any 
one, crept behind him and inflicted a heavy blow upon his 
shoulder, probably aiming at his heart. The wound was so 
unexpected and so sudden that Domejko neither succeeded 
in uttering a cry nor calling for assistance; and thus the 
would-be murderer was able to glide away unobserved. All 
that the nobleman could remember was that the unknown 
individual was very fair- haired. According to the doctors 
the wound, though a very painful one, was not mortal but it 
would take some time to heal. Meanwhile all efforts to dis- 
cover the assassin were fruitless, at which Muraviev felt great 
vexation. 

Some months afterwards two young men came out of the 
town to the Vilna railway station about two hours before the 
departure of the train to Warsaw. They were both dark- 
haired men and carried travelling-bags. This early arrival 
attracted the attention of the police official at the station, and 
he asked them in what direction they purposed going. To 
Warsaw was the reply. " Then why are you here now, when 
the train will not go for two hours ? " At this question one of 
them became somewhat confused, but the other answered 
confidently that they had settled with their landlord and did 
not wish to stay any longer in their lodging, and not knowing 
what to do they had come to the station. When the police 
officer asked him to show his passport he became confused ; 
at first turned pale and afterwards red. The passports were 
examined and seemed in order. When the official asked the 
man who was confused why he had come from Warsaw to 



1863] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 435 

Vilna he was in such agitation that he could not answer, but 
finally said, that he had arrived there to get work. "And 
what is your trade?" The young man here seemed to lose 
himself, began to stutter and with difficulty could blurt out 
that he was a cabinet-maker. " And where did you live at 
Vilna ? " " In Niemetzkaya Street at the house of one 
Levin." The police-officer at once sent a subordinate to 
ascertain whether the young man actually lived in that house. 
In half an hour's time the policeman returned with the answer 
that in the house specified no such lodgers were known. 

The confusion which these young men showed, the false 
reference given and the premature arrival at the station caused 
the police-officer to look upon them with suspicion ; he ac- 
cordingly arrested them. When the details of the arrest were 
communicated to Muraviev he at once said that one of these 
was the man who had attempted to kill Domejko. He 
ordered them to be detained and examined apart. Some 
time now elapsed. Nothing could be got out of them 
although in their statements they frequently contradicted each 
other. Muraviev, however, still felt convinced that one of 
them was the culprit. When he was informed that they were 
both dark-haired, whereas the would-be assassin of Domejko 
was fair, Muraviev ordered them to be taken to a bath and 
their hair especially to be washed. After three baths the 
man who appeared at first confused turned out to be fair- 
haired, and when he was confronted with Domejko the latter 
declared positively that it was he who inflicted the wound. 
After a long obstinacy he confessed that he was a barber 
from Warsaw, and was ordered by the Rzad to kill Domejko. 
He was accordingly sentenced to be hanged. The execution 
took place August 18th, 1863, and seven of his confederates 
were hanged with him. By the month of June the insurrec- 
tion had seemed to get weaker in the district. In November 
1863 tranquillity was restored in the north-western part of 
the country. Thereupon Muraviev occupied himself with 
settling the peasants on the land, and releasing them from 
the heavy barstchina or corvee which was due to their masters. 



436 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [ism 

He closed some of the monasteries, and established schools 
where Russian was taught. He then left the country having 
earned the hatred of the Poles more than any other Russian. 
He died suddenly in 1866. But let us trace the insurrection 
in other parts of the country. 

The chiefs of the insurgents were hanged when captured. 
Such was the fate, among others, of Mackiewicz, a priest : 
Narbutt, the son of the historian ; and Sierakowski, who had 
been an officer in the Russian service. They all met their 
fate with unflinching courage. Meanwhile the Rzad was as 
active as ever. They seem, as far as their secret proceedings 
have been unravelled, to have met in a room of the University. 
They issued newspapers, and no one could discover who 
printed them. "When the Emperor offered an amnesty 
they issued a decree forbidding anyone to pay attention 
to it. They levied taxes which were scrupulously paid, 
and they continued to get possession of large sums from 
the Government treasury. All these successes of the 
insurgents put the Government, as administered by Wielo- 
polski and the Grand Duke Constantine, in very poor con- 
trast with the success of Muraviev. On the 25th of July 
Wielopolski resigned and retired to Dresden ; the Grand 
Duke Constantine was recalled a month afterwards, and 
Count Berg was made dictator. He began by forming a 
police of 3000 soldiers and sixty officers, divided the city into 
districts, and each officer had to know what was going on in 
the houses of his district. The next occurrence was an 
attempt made on the life of Count Berg from the windows of 
the Hotel de FEurope, which was the property of Count 
Zamojski. It was sacked and for a time converted into a 
barracks. The furniture was thrown out of the windows and 
there perished, among other things, some valuable oriental 
manuscripts and a pianoforte which had been used by the 
great Polish composer Chopin. The last engagement of the 
insurrection took place at Opatovo. in the Government of 
Radom (February 22, 1S64). By May 1S64 the insurrection 
was suppressed : the Russians succeeded in apprehending the 



1864] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 437 

five heads of the Secret Committee and they were executed. 
This rash outbreak, for it can be called nothing else, had cost 
Poland dear. The title of Kingdom of Poland has now dis- 
appeared from all official documents ; and the Governments 
are sometimes spoken of as the districts by the Vistula. The 
University of Warsaw has been completely Russified, and the 
Government Schools also. In order to secure the allegiance 
of the peasant an ukaze of March 26th, 1864, gave him the 
complete possession of the land of which he had been the 
tenant. The corvees were abolished. Some of the restrictions 
enacted with reference to the use of the national language 
have been relaxed under the present Emperor Nicholas II. 

In 1864 an end was put to the war in the Caucasus. 
Shamyl had surrendered to Prince Baratinski as far back as 
1859. He was sent to live at Kaluga with a pension of 
10,000 roubles. The Circassians emigrated in large numbers 
to the Turkish dominions, where they formed a somewhat 
lawless element of the population. Many were planted 
among the Bulgarians, but the altered climatic conditions 
produced epidemics among them. They died in great 
numbers. It was the intolerable persecutions endured from 
these barbarians which drove the Bulgarians into revolt. 

It was in 1866 that the great Circassian immigration took 
place. These miserable pilgrims arrived in great numbers, 
to the utter perplexity of the Turkish authorities. Eighty 
thousand came to Varna alone. A great many died on 
landing. A reliable account of them has been furnished by 
Mr Barkley in his " Bulgaria before the War," from which we 
propose to make a few extracts, as our readers will thereby 
realise how difficult it was for the Russians to come to any 
arrangements with such people, and how idle it was for the 
English to talk of making them into a kind of independent 
nation, which should act as a bulwark against Russia. The 
word Circassian is used among us in the loosest possible 
sense, and is made to include all the motley populations of 
the Caucasus — Lesghians, Abkhasians, and even Georgians 
and Mingrelians. It is only by reading such books as 



438 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1866 

Erckert on the races of the Caucasus that we can realise 
the multiplicity of their languages and how little solidarity 
they really possess. Lord John Russell indiscreetly remon- 
strated in his official capacity with the Russians on the 
supposed expulsion. To this the Russians answered with a 
good deal of aplomb, that the Circassians had been invited 
to leave off their marauding habits, and to settle down as 
agriculturists, and that lands had been allotted to them for 
the purpose. Moreover, when Lord John pointed to the 
depopulation of the country as a sign of its bad government, 
he was reminded that if the diminution of the number of 
inhabitants was a sign of misrule, he must apply the same 
principle to Ireland, the population of which had declined by 
one-half. Mr Barkley says of them: "They are a race of 
marauders and cattle-lifters, and the whole of them may be 
said to live by theft. They had not been in the country a 
month before they were at their favourite occupation, and 
before six months were over nearly all the men were mounted, 
though when they landed they had not money to buy food to 
stave off starvation. The old residents, both Christian and 
Mussulman, had at once to take precautions for the protec- 
tion of their beasts, and for the first time in Turkey each 
village had to keep a strong patrol on the alert all night." 
Yet, as Mr Barkley continues to tell us, these picturesque 
thieves would steal a horse or a cow under the very nose 
of the Turkish guard, and could rarely be caught. If, how- 
ever, they were caught they were shot down like dogs and 
buried in the nearest hole. But even the dead were not 
safe. So poor were the Circassians that, as our author tells 
us, they dug up corpses for the sake of the rags in which they 
were buried. 

And yet these were the men whom some of our English 
Turcophiles would fain have elevated into heroes. These 
were the men who elicited the warmest sympathies of such 
one-sided enthusiasts as Mr Laurence Oliphant. The Turk 
is a lazy man, but his laziness is as nothing compared with 
that of the Circassian. At the close of the Crimean War, the 



1866] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 439 

First Lord of the Admiralty (Sir Charles Wood, afterwards 
Lord Halifax), in replying to the charge that the Government 
had deserted the Circassians (Proceedings of the House of 
Commons, May 3, 1856), showed that the English had at 
last awoke to the knowledge of what the Circassians really 
were. He avowed that he had discovered the populations of 
Georgia, Mingrelia, and Imeretia to be in favour of the 
Russians. How could it possibly be otherwise ? Speaking 
of the hill tribes, he confessed that they were like the 
Highland cattle-lifters, with no idea of union or co-operation, 
but with each man's hand against another. Nothing would 
have been more difficult than to establish a common govern- 
ment with which any negotiations could be opened. 

To return, however, to the Bulgarians, we must bear in 
mind this last load of suffering heaped upon them. Their 
condition had been gradually getting worse ; no security for 
life or the purity of the family. The brutal government of 
the renegade Greek, Midhat Pasha, further complicated 
matters. This ruffian, who was at one time an idol in fashion- 
able London society, but eventually met with his deserts, 
committed great cruelties as Pasha of Rustchuk. He was a 
complete type of the modern Turk. He built a pretended 
orphanage asylum, which he turned into a hotel, and made a 
pier, which soon subsided into the Danube. According to 
Mr Barkley, he hanged everybody he suspected, and the 
roads were filled with miserable peasants dangling in the 
air. We cannot wonder that such a man paved the way for 
the great Bulgarian outbreak, of which we are shortly to 
hear. 

In 1865 the Russians under Chernaiev gained possession 
of Tashkent; in 1898 this famous soldier died. On the 16th 
of April 1866 took place the attempt of Karakosov upon 
the Tsar. Up to that time no man of the people had been 
found guilty of such a crime, and the deed created a profound 
impression. It was followed by reactionary measures, and 
the Slavophile party gained the ascendant. They had been 
foremost in advocating the complete Russification of the 



440 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1867 

Empire. Many efforts in this direction were now made in 
the Baltic provinces, where, however, it must be remembered 
that the German element is very much in the minority, 
whatever dignity may be assigned to it as the language of 
culture. In these latter days we have seen the University of 
Dorpat becoming more and more Russified, and the name of 
the city, which was Lettish, restored to that which it had in 
the earliest times, Yuriev. 

The Asiatic dominions of Russia were now increasing with 
rapid strides. In 1867 Tashkent was formally incorporated 
with the Russian empire. The district of the Amour had 
been acquired as early as 1858, and the flourishing port of 
Vladivostok had been built. In 1868 Samarkand and 
Bokhara were acquired. During this period the anarchists 
had become more troublesome in Russia. The mild 
counsels of such men as Herzen, who edited the Bell 
(Kolokol) for many years in London, were no longer of any 
influence. A great preacher of the new doctrine was 
Bakunin, who may be said to have been the founder of 
Nihilism in the sense in which it is understood now, 
although the word itself is believed to have been invented 
by Turgueniev. Bakunin escaped from Siberia, and joined 
Herzen in editing the Kolokol. The consequence, however, 
of this was that the paper began to decline, and its sale fell 
off to such an extent that it was soon given up. During the 
rest of the reign of Alexander we shall find the Nihilists very- 
active, and terminating their conspiracies by the murder of 
one of the most benevolent sovereigns who ever occupied the 
Russian throne. 

Napoleon III., after the treaty of Paris in 1856, showed a 
great inclination to be on good terms with the Russians. 
He had fulfilled his wish, he had given some prestige to his 
new empire, founded upon trickery and bloodshed. England, 
however, had gained but little by the Crimean War. Russia 
was only temporarily checked. In constituting herself the 
protector of Turkey, England was obliged to lean upon the 
broken reed of many delusive hopes ; Turkey was to be 



1876] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 441 

regenerated ; equal religious freedom was to be granted to all 
her subjects ; and a variety of other fantastic notions were in 
vogue. The unnatural union between a country of progress 
and constitutionalism like England with a worn-out oppressive 
despotism had somehow to be explained away. Our statesmen 
have at last, even the most conservative, awoke to the idea 
that the future of Eastern Europe lies with the Slavonic 
races, and that they must be reckoned with. Lord Salisbury 
enunciated a bitter truth, of which he had at last become 
conscious, when he said that we had " put our money on the 
wrong horse." We only wish his metaphor had been a more 
dignified one, and somewhat more worthy of a statesman. 

In 1874 the Russians adopted the German system of com- 
pulsory military service from all members of the community. 
In 1871 Russia regained her former rights in the Black Sea, 
of which she had been deprived after the Crimean War. 
This concession was the result of the understanding between 
Bismarck and Russia. France was in a state of exhaustion, 
and England powerless. The next Russian conquest in 
Central Asia was to be Khiva. 

The great war with Turkey was now to break out. It was 
a recrudescence of the eternal Eastern question, the constant 
struggles of races who look for civilisation from the west, 
against Asiatic barbarism. It began with the appearance 
of Russian volunteers in Serbia in 1876. The Serbs fought 
bravely, but of course were no match for their foes either 
in numbers or discipline. Moreover, the Turkish army has 
always enjoyed the advantage of the training of western 
adventurers and mercenaries. It was in one of the first 
battles that Nicholas Kireyev, a young man of excellent 
promise, perished. As the Serbs at length were losing 
ground everywhere, and the Turks invading their territory, 
the Russians stepped in as their natural allies. The whole 
Balkan peninsula was in a state of ferment. The insurrec- 
tion in Bulgaria had been repressed by the Turks with 
great cruelty, and all Europe resounded with the accounts 
of the massacres which they had committed. The Bui- 



442 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [is:: 

garian uprising had taken place immediately after the out- 
break in Herzegovina. The revolutionary committee was 
active in Bucharest, and it was there that the youthful 
Stambulov first made himself conspicuous. At the close 
of 1875 the Turkish Bashi-bazouks were plundering and 
murdering everywhere, and fruitless attempts at peace were 
made at the Constantinople conference in December 1876 
and January 1877. On this occasion, as on many others, the 
Turks were misled by the sympathy of their English sup- 
porters, to whom they assigned greater influence than they 
really possessed. Among the proposals at this conference were 
the increase of the territory of Montenegro, the rectification 
of the frontiers of Serbia, and the local autonomy of Bosnia, 
Herzegovina, and Bulgaria, with Christian members in the 
governing body. Turkey proposed to offer as ample satis- 
faction the sham constitution concocted by the renegade 
Greek, Midhat Pasha. 

On the 24th of April 1877, Russia declared war at Kishenev 
against Turkey, and on the 22nd of June the crossing of the 
Danube by the Russian troops began. It lasted four days. 
Turkey was also invaded on the side of Armenia. The 
European army was under the command of the Grand 
Duke Nicholas, brother of the Emperor, and Generals 
Nepokoi-shitski and Levitski for chief officers. The Russians 
had already made a treaty with Roumania, whereby they were 
granted a free passage through that country. They were 
spread out along the left bank of the Danube, having the 
Roumanian army on their extreme right, opposite to Viddin. 
There were some Turkish monitors at hand, but they seemed 
powerless, and two of them were blown up by Russian torpedoes 
before Matchin. The river was crossed at Sistova, and the 
great effort was to advance upon Shipka in the Balkans. To 
mislead the enemy, General Zimmermann forced the passage 
of the river to the north of the Dobrudzha, and built a bridge 
on June 22nd, while a furious cannonade kept the Turks 
occupied from Rustchuk to Nikopoli. Thanks to their pre- 
cautions, and the secret being well guarded, the Russians 



1877] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 443 

succeeded in passing the river, and landing at Zimnitsa on 
the night of the 26th of June. They now occupied Sistova, 
and at night their pontoons passed under the cannon of 
Nikopoli without being observed by the Turks. One Russian 
corps now covered Rustchuk, and extended along the Yantra ; 
the other deployed towards the Vid, and seized Nikopoli on 
the 1 6th of July. Meanwhile an advance guard, under the 
command of General Gourko, hastened to occupy the import- 
ant pass of Shipka in the Balkans. Gourko passed through 
the defile of Hankoi without opposition. He suddenly ap- 
peared on the other side of the Balkans, in the valley of the 
Tundja, and taking in the rear the Turkish positions at Shipka, 
carried them, after a trifling reverse (July 19th), and thus in 
the space of twenty days the Danube had been crossed, the 
passage of the Balkans forced, and the route opened to Adrian- 
ople and Constantinople. But suddenly these brilliant suc- 
cesses suffered a check. Osman Pasha of Viddin, by forced 
marches, had come on the Russian right, and had fortified 
Plevna (Pleven), a place strong by nature. The Russians 
made their first attempt to carry these lines, but the assault was 
repulsed with great loss under the very eyes of the Emperor. 
There were 20,000 Turks in the position, and their fortifications 
are said to have been planned by a very skilful Italian engineer, 
for accurate accounts show that Osman was inactive. Moreover 
the Pasha was in direct communication with Sophia and was 
well furnished with provisions. On the 29th of July a second 
attempt was made, but although the Russians fought with 
great bravery, they could only carry the first lines and were 
finally repulsed. The fields around were covered with the 
dead and wounded, and the Turks could be seen stabbing 
the latter as they lay on the field. They are a people who 
are not studious of taking prisoners, as witness the sad fate of 
the young English volunteer, Hughes, in the late war in 
Thessaly. 

Suleiman Pasha also made his appearance on the Tundja 
with 35,000 men, with a view of retaking Shipka, and the 
army under Mehemet Ali at Rustchuk now began to move. 



444 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [1877 

The Russians were therefore obliged to concentrate them- 
selves, and in order to do so they retired to the north of the 
Balkans and fortified the Shipka Pass. All their efforts were 
now directed against Plevna, and they called their allies the 
Roumanians to assist them. The consequences of this move- 
ment were terrible to the Bulgarians, especially in the eastern 
part of what was afterwards called Eastern Roumelia, but has 
now been definitely annexed to. Bulgaria. 

The Bashi-bazouks overran the whole country between the 
Maritsa and the Shipka Pass and reduced it to a wilderness, 
including the town of Eski Zagra, now Stara Zagora. Most 
of the inhabitants, however, escaped over the mountains into 
the territory occupied by the Russians. The cities of Kalofer 
and Sopot were also burnt after the flight of the inhabitants. 

The fate of Karlovo was even more terrible. This lovely 
spot, which would seem marked out by nature for rural happi- 
ness and peace, was the scene of much bloodshed. The 
inhabitants, both Christian and Turkish, had in a way 
admitted the Russians in order to avoid having their terri- 
tory devastated. But on the Russians evacuating the place, 
the Mussulmans who had arranged the reception conjointly 
with their Christian neighbours betrayed them into the hands 
of the Bashi-bazouks. These Bashi-bazouks (lit., Mad-heads) 
are not, as some people have imagined, a kind of irregular 
Turkish soldiery, but village and town ruffians who follow the 
armies for the sake of murder and plunder. Of the citizens 
864 were put to death. These unfortunate men were dragged 
to Philippopolis, some dying on the way, tried by court- 
martial, and hanged in various parts of the town. Their 
sad fate has been graphically described by their fellow- 
prisoner Ivan Geshov, who survived this bath of blood, to 
be one of the first Bulgarian finance ministers. In Sliven 
(Slivna) peasants were hanging on each side of the streets as 
the troops of Suleiman entered. The prisons were full, and 
suspected persons were everywhere executed. 

The Turks now began an attack on the Russian position at 
Shipka, August 21, which lasted five days. They had almost 



1877] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 445 

succeeded in opening the route to Trnovo, but Sulieman was 
unable to withstand the Russian reinforcements, and could 
not make himself master of their works. Meantime Mehemet 
Ali was able partly to keep the Russians in check on the 
Yantra. The Russians made a third attack on Plevna (Sep- 
tember n), but although Skobelev succeeded in carrying the 
Turkish redoubts, in consequence of the inadequate number 
of his troops this third attack failed. It was calculated that 
in the three attacks the Russians had lost 30,000 men. 

We must now turn to the campaigns in Asia. The army 
had entered Turkish territory in four columns under the 
command of Loris Melikov. They first marched upon 
Batoum along the coast of the Black Sea, the other three 
went to Kars and Erzerum by different routes. The 
column on the route to Batoum was soon obliged to retire 
before the Turkish attacks; the latter had undisturbed 
access to the Black Sea, and had disembarked Circassian 
emigrants to raise the Caucasus. On the left, Bayazid was 
taken without resistance (April 20th) ; Ardahan was taken 
after twelve days' fighting ; and the blockade of Kars com- 
menced on the 4th of June. The Turkish general, Moukhtar 
Pasha, retired, and awaited reinforcements. But Melikov 
was repulsed while trying to force his position at Zevin 
(June 25th), and Moukhtar thereupon raised the blockade 
of Kars and forced the Russians to retreat, having gained 
an advantage over them at Kizil Tepe (August 25th). The 
Russians fought bravely, but were outnumbered. They 
sent for more troops, and Todleben, who had defended 
Sevastopol, was summoned, like another Suvorov, to the 
front. Todleben completely changed the plan of action. He 
had 1 12, 000 men at his disposal, and thought that Plevna 
ought rather to be starved out as the number of Turkish 
outworks was so great. His first thought was to cut off 
Osman Pasha's communications. On the 24th of October, 
after a battle at Gorni Dubniak, he took 4000 prisoners, and 
cut off the communication between Plevna, Orkhanie, and 
Sofia; the Roumanians at the same time established them- 



446 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [ists 

selves on the line to Riachovo. Osman was now completely 
surrounded, and Gourko concentrated his forces in the direc- 
tion of Orkhanie. When he had exhausted his provisions 
Osman made a sortie, and was obliged to surrender with his 
40,000 men. Plevna fell on the 12th of December. Gourko 
crossed the Balkans on December 25, occupying four days in 
the passage. Meanwhile, in Asia Minor, the Turks began to 
have the same bad fortune. Moukhtar Pasha was beaten by 
Loris Melikov, and forced by a series of battles into the 
denies of Deve-Boyum which protect Erzerum. 'Kars was 
taken, and the investment of Erzerum also began. At the 
commencement of the next year the Russians advanced 
through the Balkans to Roumelia. Although the cold was 
intense, Gourko on the right turned the position of Arab- 
Konak and got possession of Sofia. He had meanwhile 
been joined by a Serbian detachment, and now marched by 
way of the valleys of the Tundja and the Maritsa to 
Adrianople. At Shipka 35,000 Turks laid down their arms. 
On the 15th of January Gourko took Philippopolis ; before 
surrendering it the Turks cut the throats of all the unfor- 
tunate Bulgarians who remained in prison. The place had 
long been little more than a human shambles. During 
the years 1877 and 1878, in the provinces of Philippopolis 
and Adrianople alone, 16,632 Bulgarians had been put to 
the sword, 623 hanged, 65 burnt to death, 925 churches, 
schools, and shops, and 40,860 inhabited houses were 
destroyed and plundered. Of 129 churches in the province 
of Philippopolis 103 were reduced to ruins. It has been 
calculated that about 180 Bulgarian captives in Turkish 
prisons were strangled. Suleiman Pasha, worsted by Gourko 
at Philippopolis when the Russians took it, was driven into 
the Rhodope Mountains. He was altogether a brutal man, 
as the description given of him by Mr Geshov in the account 
of his captivity shows. He thirsted for the blood of his 
prisoners. On the 20th of January Adrianople was taken. 
The Turkish governor had been displaying great cruelty 
there, and had hanged some miserable Bulgarian refugees ; 



1878] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 447 

one a doctor, who had attached himself to the hospital where 
he worked in attendance on the Turkish sick and wounded. 
"He was taken thence," Lord Bath tells us, "with the red 
crescent on his arm, and hanged with his fellow citizens." 
On the 31st the Russians were at Silivri and Rodosto on 
the Sea of Marmora. They were now at the very gates of 
Constantinople. On the 14th of February the Turks made 
proposals for peace. 

Meanwhile the English fleet had appeared in Turkish 
waters and passed the Dardanelles on February 1st. The 
foreign policy of the country was at that time directed by 
Lord Beaconsfield whose Turcophile proclivities are well 
known. He had spoken of the Sultan as an amiable young 
man in a trying position who was worthy of our sympathies. 
Meanwhile the Grand Duke Nicholas moved his troops to San 
Stefano to the very gates of Constantinople. On the 3rd of 
March 187 8, he signed the treaty of San Stefano with the Turkish 
diplomatists, Safvet and Sadullah ■ the terms of this memorable 
treaty were the independence of Serbia, Tsrnagora (Mon- 
tenegro), and Roumania, and addition of territory to the two 
former. The Sultan had in reality never been able to exercise 
any authority over the Montenegrians, as these fierce moun- 
taineers had repelled all attempts at subjugation. A prin- 
cipality of Bulgaria was created tributary but autonomous. 
Reforms were to be granted to Bosnia and the Herzegovina, 
and these provinces were to be occupied and put under the 
administration of Austria. This was the great feature of 
the treaty in so much as it brought Austria as a factor into 
the Balkan peninsula, Roumania received the Dobrudzha, 
and Russia regained the piece of territory at the mouth of the 
Danube which she had lost by the Treaty of Paris. 

In Asia she gained Batoum, a very important port, Ardahan, 
Kars and Bayazid, and an indemnity was to be paid her of 
300,000,000 roubles. European Turkey was reduced to a 
mere strip of territory and had only three towns of any size 
left, Salonika, Adrianople, and Constantinople. England and 
Austria were both dissatisfied with these arrangements. 



443 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [ists 

Among us the Turcophile party was then much stronger than 
at present. The English were never more active than they 
were at that time in pursuing their inconsistent and somewhat 
selfish policy of taking the lead in the West in all religious 
and political progress, and at the same time keeping as far as 
they could their fellow Christians in the East under the 
galling bondage of aliens in race and religion. The selfish 
anti-slavonic policy of Austria was also very pronounced at 
the time. She has been forced in the hour of peril in recent 
times to interpret her political position much more sanely. 
At the instigation of Bismarck, a man who always showed a 
supreme contempt for the rights of humanity, a conference 
was summoned at Berlin. The treaty of San Stefano was 
now considerably modified. Bulgaria was made much 
smaller in the Western portion and was to pay tribute to the 
Porte. The country south of the Balkans was restored to the 
Turks but received a certain autonomy and took the name of 
Eastern Roumelia, which, however, it was to have but a short 
time. Beaconsfield is said to have been very anxious that 
the Turks should have Bourgas, which was now practically 
their only port on the Black Sea. Montenegro, Servia, and 
Roumania received additions of territory. The first country 
had the port of Dulcigno allotted to it. Servia received Nish, 
which is now the second largest city in that country. The 
Roumanians were obliged to cede to Russia the portion of 
territory at the mouth of the Danube and received in exchange 
a barren part of the Dobrudzha, where the climate is remark- 
ably unhealthy and the population consists chiefly of Tatars. 
Thus the weak country was despoiled and Russia, which the 
Turcophiles professed to hate so much, was augmented. 
Bayazid and the territory of Alashgeid in Asia were to go 
back to Turkey, but the Russians kept their other conquests 
and their frontier was considerably advanced. 

The great feature of this treaty was undoubtedly the in- 
troduction of Austria into the Balkan peninsula. By pro- 
tecting Bosnia and Herzegovina she kept open a door for 
herself for the future occupation of Salonica. 



1878] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 449 

The account of the administration of Bulgaria by Russian 
officials belongs to Bulgarian history. By the terms of the 
treaty of Berlin (July 27, 1878), Macedonia, which had been 
rescued by Russian blood so lavishly shed was handed back 
to the Turks on condition that certain reforms should be 
executed. It has been, however, the same wearisome story 
of continual promises as futile as those made at the time of 
the Treaty of Paris. Turkey will not and cannot execute any 
reforms. She remains as she always has been, a barbarous 
power alien to the European system. By the creation of the 
province of Eastern Roumelia and the restoration of Mace- 
donia to Turkey, a very short-sighted policy was adopted by 
the English. The formation of such a small state would 
cause it to be powerless. Had they really been anxious to 
create a strong Bulgaria that could defy Russia, they should 
have followed the plan of the treaty of San Stefano. On the 
1 8th of September 1885, the governor of Eastern Roumelia, 
an irresolute old man, was escorted in derisive ceremony out 
of the city of Philippopolis and the province was permanently 
united to Bulgaria. In the same way Moldavia and Wallachia 
were also joined, after they had been kept separate by the 
Treaty of Paris. 

The protectorate of Austria over Bosnia and Herzegovina 
must be looked upon as actual ownership. When these 
provinces first came into her power a certain number of the 
population resisted, but under the able administration of the 
Governor Kallaj perfect tranquillity reigns. Christian and 
Mohammedan are enabled to live in unity. The beautiful 
scenery of the country (only to mention such a place as 
Jajce) is yearly attracting tourists, and instead of torrents of 
blood and pyramids of skulls which were too often the only 
symbols of Turkish rule, we now find the comforts and appli- 
ances of civilized life. 

Finally we must say something of the additions to Greece. 

She also received a large accession of territory, including 

Thessaly with its capital Larissa. Although by a foolish war 

with the Turks she ran the risk of losing some of her recently 

2 F 



450 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i88i 

acquired territory, the European powers compelled Turkey to 
evacuate the provinces she had occupied, and last year (1898), 
Crete was declared autonomous. Although only twenty 
years have elapsed since the signing of the Treaty of Berlin 
we shall see that it has already undergone considerable modi- 
fications. In 1 88 1 Skobelev, who had been the great general 
of the Bulgarian war, took Geok Tepe and Askabad. The 
Russians were now gradually making themselves masters of 
Turkestan. 

The latter part of the reign of Alexander II. was disturbed 
by many plots against his life. On April 16, 1866, Karakazov 
shot at him at St Petersburg as already mentioned, and the 
attempt might have succeeded had not a peasant named 
Komisarov-Kostromski pushed away the assassin's arm. In 
the following year a Pole, named Berezowski, attempted the 
life of the Emperor at Paris while he was on a visit to Napoleon 
III. In 1878 Metzentsev, the head of the gendarmerie at St 
Petersburg, was killed ; and in the following year three 
attempts were made upon the life of the Emperor, which 
were nearly successful. Soloviov aimed a pistol at the Tsar 
for which he was executed, and attempts were made to blow 
up part of the Winter Palace and to wreck the train by which 
the Emperor was travelling in the South of Russia.. On the 
1 2th of March 1881 Alexander was killed by a hand grenade 
on the bank of the Catherine Canal at St Petersburg. Before 
this time a mine had been discovered under the Malaya 
Sadovaya, by which street the Emperor was to pass. It had 
been dug with great labour as all the earth had to be secretly 
moved away in bags. A shop had been hired from which 
the mining was begun, and at this shop one of the female 
conspirators ostensibly sold butter and eggs. On the day of 
his murder the Emperor was proceeding from the Mikhailovski 
riding-school when a shot struck the carriage. Getting out to 
enquire what was the matter the Emperor was hit by a hand 
grenade and desperately wounded ; he had only strength to cry 
out : Vozmi v'dvoriets^ tarn umeret, take me to the palace to die 
there. Zhelnikov, the conspirator who had thrown the bomb, 



1881] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 451 

was himself killed by the explosion. Another confederate 
blew out his brains as soon as he was arrested. The con- 
spirators were found to be six in number and were condemned 
to death ; one a Jewess, Jessa Helfmann, was sent into 
banishment. The others : Zhelabovski Sophia Perovskaya, 
who by letting fall a handkerchief, had given the signal to the 
assassins ; Kibalchich, Risakov and Mikhailov were sentenced 
to be hanged. On the 15th of April 1881 they suffered death 
on the Semenovski Place near St Petersburg. Sophia 
Perovskaya was a woman of undaunted courage and met 
her fate with a spirit worthy of a better cause. 

Thus perished Alexander II., a man of amiable character 
if not of great strength of mind, in whose reign Russia 
certainly made considerable constitutional progress. To him 
she owes the establishment of the mirovoi sud and the zemstvo, 
but before all other things the emancipation of the serfs. It 
is well known also that he was about to summon a national 
sobor or parliament which had existed in the old times, but 
had been in abeyance since the days of the Emperor Feodor 
at the close of the seventeenth century. This would have 
been a direct step towards constitutional government. Alex- 
ander had married a princess of Hesse Darmstadt. He was 
succeeded by his second son Alexander, the eldest having 
died at Nice. Besides the heir to the throne he had the 
following children. Vladimir born in 1847, Alexis in 1850, 
Sergius in 1857, Paul in i860, and a daughter Mary, born in 
1853 and married to the Duke of Edinburgh. 

It has already been said that in spite of the reactionary 
measures which characterised the reign of Nicholas, and the 
severity of the censorship, it was a period of great literary 
brilliancy. The tradition was to be prolonged to a consider- 
able extent during the reign of Alexander II. After the death 
of Bielinski the two most prominent critics were Alexander 
Druzhinin and Pavel Annenkov. The former died of con- 
sumption, having only reached the age of thirty-nine years. 
He had shown, however, great literary activity, and is interest- 
ing to Englishmen as having laboured to make his countrymen 



452 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i88i 

acquainted with our literature. He translated three of Shake- 
speare's plays, King Lear, Coriolanus, and Richard III., and 
a series of essays appeared by him entitled "Johnson and 
Boswell," pictures of literary manners in England in the 
second half of the eighteenth century. He also wrote an 
interesting work on Crabbe, in which he gave large extracts 
from his poems. Crabbe, " nature's sternest painter, but her 
best," as Byron said, is an author who would take with the 
Russians. The severe pictures of rustic life are quite in 
their style, and seem to have stimulated such poems as those 
of Nekrasov. There was a natural reaction after the false 
idyllic poetry of last century. 

At Moscow the Slavophiles were for some time in full 
power, Khomiakov and the two Aksakovs. They were in 
opposition to the Zapadniks or Westerns. The great theory 
of the Slavophiles was that there was nothing to learn from 
the West, which was worn out and corrupted. The tradition 
of the Russian novel was admirably sustained by Turgueniev 
(18 1 8-1883), m many respects the greatest of the Russian 
novelists. His genius was first evident in the Zapiski 
Okhotnika, or " Memoirs of a Sportsman," but culminated 
in Dvoria?iskoe Gniezdo, "A Nest of Gentlefolks." He is 
conspicuous for his exquisite female portraits. No man also 
better understood the Russian muzhik. In 1881 died Feodor 
Dostoievski, who has described with so much vigour his 
Siberian exile; the result of his having foolishly joined the 
conspiracy of Petrashevski. An astonishingly pathetic novel 
by him is his Biednie Liudi, " Poor People." Tolstoi is still 
living, and has made a great reputation not only by his 
extraordinary descriptive power, as witness the marvellous 
panorama unrolled before us in " War and Peace," but also 
his strange socialistic views, and the austerity of his life. An 
eminent English critic considered his " Anna Karenina " the 
best novel ever written in any language. Other Russian 
novelists of considerable merit were Grigorovich and Pisarev. 
Gleb Uspenski and Zlatovratski are still living. Saltikov, the 
author of the very clever " Provincial Sketches," who wrote 



1877] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 453 

under the nom de guerre of Stchedrin, died in 1889. He 
was in his own time one of the most original writers whom 
Russia has produced. Some interesting accounts of his last 
days will be found in the Memoirs of Dr Bielogolovoi, 
published a year or so ago, which have now gone into a 
third edition. Among the latest novelists of undoubted 
talent are Garshin, now dead ; and Anton Chekhov, whose 
tales are sometimes appalling from their realism. A clever 
writer of comedies was Ostrovski, whose works are beginning 
to be known in England. His Burya, "the Storm," is a 
powerful piece, dealing with middle-class life, the most diffi- 
cult of all to treat artistically. The most serious tragedy in 
modern times since the Boris Godunov of Pushkin has been 
the trilogy composed by Count Alexis Tolstoi, also the author 
of a novel Kniaz Serebriannoi. Tolstoi, like Pushkin, saw 
what dramatic capabilities the story of Ivan the Terrible and 
his son presented. 

The greatest poet since the days of Pushkin has been 
Nicholas Nekrasov (f 1877), author of many striking sketches, 
in which the hard life of the Russian peasant is faithfully 
drawn. His longest poem is entitled Moroz Krasni Nos, 
" Red-nosed Frost," the title of which is taken from a Russian 
saying. Of this there is a good English translation. Nekrasov 
has a wonderful poem also on the poor broken soldier who 
returns to his native village. Among the Malo-Russians arose 
the extraordinary poet Taras Shevchenko, half artist, half lyrist, 
whose life was as varied and tragic as his poetry. Born a 
serf, he was only emancipated when a young man by a sub- 
scription among friends, who admired his artistic talent and 
purchased him from his master. While spending a fairly 
pleasant life afterwards in literary and other coteries, he had 
the misfortune to get mixed up with some secret societies in 
consequence of which he was sent to serve in Siberia as a 
common soldier. He endured this miserable condition of life 
for some years, but was at last pardoned through the influence 
of some friends in the milder reign of Alexander II. 

Shevchenko has left us some very striking poems in the 



454 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [isso 

Malo-Russian language or dialect. They must be read with 
such writings as the Taras Bulba of Gogol, if we want to 
know what Cossack life really was. In 1861, died at 
Voronezh, Ivan Nikitin, who has left some poems of great 
merit, one of the best of which is Burlak, the name given to 
a boatman who plies his trade on the Volga. Nikitin was 
one of the poets who have come from the people, and 
deserves (in a measure) to be ranked with Koltsov, who was 
his fellow-townsman. Some strange phenomena in this way 
have been witnessed in Russia. Two other poets are also to 
be reckoned as belonging to this class, Ivan Surikov and 
Spiridon Drozhzhin. Surikov died of consumption in 1880; 
his life was passed in poverty. Drozhzhin is fortunately still 
living. He was born in 1848, and has had a very chequered 
career. 

It is impossible, however, to find room here for anything 
like an enumeration of recent Russian authors, such as 
Maikov, Fet (Shenshin), Polonski, and Plestcheev among the 
poets. In 1897 Polonski died. Soloviov left a large History 
of Russia in twenty-eight volumes, and valuable historical 
works were produced by Ustrialov and Bestuzhev-Riumin. 
Nor have the Russians been behind hand in art, as witness 
the names of Verestchagin, Ankolski, and Aivazovski; or in 
music, as Glinka, Dargomizhki, Chaikovski, and Rubinstein 
testify. 

In the last few years Russia has been making immense 
strides in the domain of physical science, for which indeed 
the Russian nature seems to show great capacity. It would 
be impossible in a short work like the present to do any more 
than name some of the leading men. The highest position 
has been gained by the great chemist Mendeleef, who began 
his studies at St Petersburg, and concluded them at Heidel- 
berg. He has shown his originality by the new method 
which he has introduced into chemistry. He has applied to 

the mathematical analysis which has had such excellent 
results in astronomy. Mendeleef has proved that the 
chemist can discover by mathematical calculations new simple 



1880] THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II. 455 

substances, exactly as the astronomer discovers new planets. 
This great man was born in Siberia, where his father, a 
Russian officer, was quartered. He had the misfortune to 
lose him at an early age, but all the care and expenses of his 
education were provided by the labours and self-sacrifice of 
his mother. The son, in the dedication which he has prefixed 
to his great work, has shown how grateful he felt to this 
excellent woman. The dedication is so characteristically 
Russian that we cannot forbear adding it. " This work is 
dedicated to the memory of a mother by her son. This 
mother by great self-sacrifice was able to educate her son. 
She trained him by her example, and kept him in the right 
paths by her love. To devote him to science, she brought him 
from Siberia, exhausting her small means and wearing herself 
out in doing so. When she died, she left him the follow- 
ing admonition as an inheritance : Avoid Latin fraud, 
persevere in labour, and seek scientific truth with patience. 
This woman understood how trumpery is rhetoric, and how 
science, peacefully and without violence, dissipates all pre- 
judices, and substitutes for them liberty, the well-being of the 
generality, and inward happiness. The son has always thought 
it a sacred duty to carry out the wishes of his mother." 

The opus magnum of Mendeleev is his "Principles of 
Chemistry," of which there is an English translation. A 
few years ago the Professor received the degree of D.C.L. 
from the University of Oxford. The name of Pirogov is 
widely known throughout Europe as one of the most eminent 
surgeons whom the world has seen. He first made a great 
reputation at the time of the Crimean War. One of the 
methods employed in human anatomy is named after him. 
He has now been for some time dead. 

Professor Ilya Mechnikov has since 1880 devoted himself 
especially to micro-biology. After having been professor at 
the University of Odessa, he has been appointed to carry on 
the work of the late M. Pasteur in France. Russia has 
also produced some celebrated mathematicians, such as 
Ostrogradski, and the late Mme. Kovalevskaya, who was Pro- 



456 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA [i887 

fessor of Mathematics at the recently founded University 
of Stockholm. Sonia Kovalevskaya was an extraordinary 
genius, and the publication of her Memoirs a short time 
ago by her friend left a great impression in the civilised 
world. She had received a prize from the French Academy 
for her mathematical work. Other eminent mathematicians 
have been Lobachevski, remarkable for his original views on 
geometry which caused him to gain a European reputation ; 
Chebychev, and Zolotarev, the last, however, committed 
suicide at an early age before he had been able to prove 
his great talents to the world. Finally, before quitting the 
subject of the latest Russian authors, mention must be made 
of Katkov (born 1820, died 1887), who, as editor of one of 
the most popular Russian journals, wielded immense power 
among his countrymen. We have already briefly alluded to 
the Russian painters. A few words must be devoted to 
Verestchagin, a man of astonishing genius and one who has 
carried realism in art to its utmost limits. His pictures of 
life in Bokhara and the newly-acquired possessions of Russia 
in Central Asia first attracted attention. These were followed 
by his very realistic representations of the Russo-Turkish War, 
and the horrors of the Shipka Pass. He has recently ex- 
hibited in London his pictures of the Napoleonic expedition 
in 181 2. The paintings of Verestchagin seem to serve the 
purpose of bringing the horrors of war home to us. His 
picture of a pyramid of human skulls dedicated to all 
conquerors who have been, who are, and who shall be, is 
not to be forgotten when it has once been seen. Ivanov, 
who died young, was a great painter of sacred subjects. 
Aivazovski, who has recently died, is celebrated for his 
landscapes and sea views. It is in the painting of scenery 
that many Russian artists have excelled. 



CHAPTER XV 

SUMMARY OF THE REIGNS OF ALEXANDER III. 
AND NICHOLAS II. (1881-1899) 

HTHE facts of the reign of the Emperor Alexander III. 
-*- must be briefly narrated as they are so recent, but 
owing to the great strides made by Russia in this period it 
seems necessary to say something about the condition of the 
country. Alexander II. was succeeded by his second son 
of the same name, the eldest son having died at Nice in 
1865. The new sovereign was an amiable and honest man, 
but he adopted the advice of reactionaries. Nor indeed can 
we wonder at this policy, if we remember the results of the 
liberal tendencies of his father. The country was full of 
plots, and a kind of bodyguard of the Emperor's person was 
formed by volunteers from the Russian aristocracy. The 
young Emperor found reactionary advisers in Count Dmitri 
Tolstoi, Pobiedonostsev, and Katkov. He had married the 
daughter of the King of Denmark, who, on entering the 
Greek Church, became Maria Feodorovna. The Nihilists 
were still active; an attempt was made in 1881 to kill 
Cherevin who was the coadjutor of the minister of the 
interior. Strelnikov, procuror-general, was killed at Kiev 
in 1882, and Sudeikin, a high police official, the same year. 
The Russian colonisation of Asia advanced with giant strides ; 
Merv and Pendjeh being added to the Russian possessions 
in 1884 and 1886, and in the latter year the Transcaspian 
railway was opened. On the 29th of October 1888 occurred 
the mysterious railway accident at Borki, on the Kursk 
Kharkov line, in which several persons were killed and the 
Imperial family nearly lost their lives. Some see in this 

457 



458 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

occurrence simply an accident, but others look upon it as 
an attempt of Nihilists. 

The number of the police was increased, and in the large 
towns the owners of houses were responsible for the behaviour 
of their tenants ; they were forced to exercise such a sur- 
veillance that no suspected persons could enter the houses, 
no contraband books were to be introduced, nor explosive 
materials. The dvornik or porter must keep watch over that 
part of the street which is immediately in front of the house 
where he is employed. During this reign also the Jewish 
question became a burning one. It is calculated that there 
are five millions of them in Russia, and they are only allowed 
to inhabit certain governments. They have latterly emigrated 
in great numbers to the United States, Brazil, the Argentine 
Republic, and other countries. In the year 1891 alone more 
than 10,000 quitted Russia. 

Poland, completely weakened by the failure of the insur- 
rection of 1863, remained tranquil. Poles were, however, 
forbidden to purchase land in Lithuania, and an ukaze was 
issued preventing foreigners from purchasing immovable 
property in Poland. The object of this is said to have been 
to keep Germans from settling in the country. One of the 
most extraordinary developments of modern times is the 
commercial growth of the town of Lodz, which is situated 
in the government of Piotrkow, and numbers 315,209 
inhabitants, being one of the largest cities of the empire. 

Great efforts were made, and have been continued to the 
present time, to Russianise the Baltic provinces. In order 
to understand the condition of affairs there we must examine 
into the ethnological elements of this part of the empire. 
According to the most trustworthy accounts, the prevailing 
population is Esthonian, Curonian, or Lettish, the Germans 
(landlords or tradesmen and artizans in towns) being only 3*5, 
6'8, and 7*6 per cent, respectively of the population. Prince 
Kropotkin says that in the three provinces, Courland, Esthonia, 
and Livonia, Riga included, they hardly amount to 120,000 
out of 1,800,000 inhabitants. The Russians have introduced 



ALEXANDER III. AND NICHOLAS II. 459 

their language as the organ of education, and the University 
of Dorpat has been Russified. Moreover, the name of 
the city has reverted to that which it anciently had — 
Yuriev. 

In 1888 a great festival took place in the ancient city of 
Kiev to commemorate the nine-hundredth anniversary of the 
introduction of Christianity into Russia. Many ecclesiastics 
of foreign communities sent sympathetic telegrams, among 
others the Archbishop of Canterbury and the celebrated 
Roman Catholic Bishop of Djakovo, Strossmayer. The latter 
on account of this received a public rebuke from the Emperor 
of Austria. 

Meanwhile the Russians, as will be more minutely described 
in the chapter on their progress in the East, advanced in their 
Asiatic colonisation. The Transcaspian railway, which 
originally terminated at Samarkand, has now (1899) been 
carried as far as Andizhan. Russia has extended her pos- 
sessions till she has reached a point a little north of Herat. 
She is now separated from British India by the natural 
frontiers of the Hindu- Kush and from China by the Kizil 
Yart. In 1890 the heir-apparent, now the Emperor Nicholas 
II., took a long tour in Eastern Asia. It was during this 
journey that the great Siberian railway was begun. 

Although the natural bias of the Emperor Alexander III. 
was towards autocracy, he was not sympathetic in all points 
with the policy of Bismarck. He discovered that the courts 
of Vienna and Berlin had concluded another treaty to which 
he was not a party. He also was displeased at the efforts 
made by Austria to push her influence in the Balkan Penin- 
sula in which she was assisted by Bismarck. 

It has been said that Russia had made a secret stipulation 
with Austria that she should take Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
It seems to us that by so doing she would be adopting a 
suicidal policy, and weaken her hegemony of the Balkan States, 
to attain which she had already shed so much blood and 
lavished so much treasure. In Bulgaria she had at one time 
lost influence. Alexander of Battenberg had been forced to 



460 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

resign, and had not succeeded in making himself a persona 
grata to the Tsar. His government of the principality, at 
first so vigorous and promising, had become feeble. Sub- 
sequent revelations have enabled us to understand this 
change. He was already suffering from the exhausting 
disease which was soon to carry him off. His successor, 
Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, was elected in opposition 
to the Tsar, but eventually made peace with him. The 
whole object of Stambulov in the marriage he arranged 
between Prince Ferdinand and a lady of the house of 
Habsburg was distinctly anti-Russian. The Russian minister 
was for a time withdrawn from Sofia in consequence of this 
hostility. 

The only firm ally of Russia in the Balkan was Prince 
Nicholas of Montenegro, who paid several visits to Alexander 
and was welcomed by him in very flattering terms. Two of his 
daughters married princes of the Russian Imperial family, a 
third married a member of the family of Karageorgevitch, the 
rival candidate to the Servian throne with the Obrenovitches. 
Another daughter has married the King of Italy. 

Roumania which had fought on the side of Russia in the 
Bulgarian campaign and whose troops had greatly distinguished 
themselves at the siege of Plevna, was more and more drawn 
towards Austria by economic reasons. In March 1881 
Charles of Hohenzollern had caused himself to be crowned 
at Bukharest. Milan of Servia also was crowned king of 
that country in the following year. He too showed Austrian 
leanings. In 1883 Alexander of Battenberg had got rid of 
the Russian ministers and found himself constrained to adopt 
a more national policy. In 1885 Eastern Roumelia, as it was 
called, was annexed without bloodshed to Bulgaria as we have 
previously described. Upon this taking place the incapable 
Milan of Servia pretended that the aggrandisement of Bulgaria 
destroyed the equilibrium of the Balkan states. He accord- 
ingly invaded the Bulgarian territories with a large army. 
Alexander of Bulgaria, although he was inferior in numbers, 
encountered him at Slivnitsa on the 19th of November 1885, 



ALEXANDER III. AND NICHOLAS II. 461 

and completely defeated him. The Bulgarians now invaded 
Servia and won another victory at Pirot. 

In spite, however, of his great services Alexander of 
Battenberg was seized in bed on the night of August the 21st, 
1886, by conspirators of the Russian party, and made to sign 
an act of abdication. He was then conducted across the 
Danube into Bessarabia and from thence to Lemberg in 
Austrian Poland. But Bulgaria protested against this out- 
rage and the concocters of the plot. Battenberg was invited 
to return. The attempts of the Bulgarian prince to mitigate 
the wrath of Alexander III. were fruitless. The latter plainly 
told him that he did not approve of his return, and at the 
same time would not make any statement as to his future 
intentions. He simply said that he should act in conformity 
with the interests of Russia. The prince saw that all opposi- 
tion was useless, he nominated a regency, one of the members 
of which was Stambulov, addressed a proclamation to the 
people and retired from the country (Sept. 7, 1886). After 
an interregnum of nearly a year Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg 
was elected, a grandson of Louis Philippe, but he was not 
recognised by any of the powers ; and the post of Russian 
minister at Sofia remained vacant. 

Stambulov was now the leading man in the country; he 
was a native of Trnovo and it is said had begun life as the 
waiter at a restaurant. He was a violent and unscrupulous 
man ; he put many persons to death in arbitrary fashion, and 
in one of the blood feuds so frequent in these countries he 
was afterwards murdered. 

Such was the state of things in Bulgaria. On the 12th of 
December the Transcaspian railway was opened. 

Russia in this way found herself completely deserted by 
the Balkan States, which had been encouraged by Austria 
and Germany. It thus resulted that she looked to an 
alliance with France. In the year 1887 took place the death 
of the eminent publicist Katkov, who had been allowed in 
his journal to preach almost a crusade against Germany. 
The Emperor of Russia had on two, if not more, occasions 



462 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

prevented the outbreak of another war between Germany and 
France. His sympathy with the latter country now became 
open. In the month of July 1891 the French fleet under 
the command of Admiral Gervais visited Cronstadt. On the 
4th of August fifty-five officers and twelve sailors accompanied 
Admiral Gervais to Moscow and were very cordially received. 
Two years afterwards a Russian squadron, commanded by 
Admiral Avellane, returned in France the visit of Gervais. 
The Russian fleet came to Toulon and was received with a 
series of magnificent fetes. Avellane and his officers also 
paid a visit to Paris. 

In 1 89 1 the heir-apparent Nicholas, the present Emperor, 
made his tour, and while at Vladivostok the first turf was dug 
for the formation of the Siberian railway, which has since 
advanced with such giant strides. 

In the year 1893 the eminent musician Chaikovski died of 
cholera, from imprudently drinking a glass of iced water. In 
this year the heir-apparent Nicholas was betrothed to the 
Princess Alice of Hesse-Homburg, the grand-daughter of 
Queen Victoria. In 1894 the part of the Siberian railway 
between Cheliabinsk and Tomsk was opened, and trains began 
to run. Towards the end of the year 1894 Europe suddenly 
learned that the Emperor Alexander was very ill. He suffered, 
among other maladies, from disease of the heart, and his ail- 
ments were probably aggravated by the life of continual agitation 
which he had been compelled to lead ; grave political complica- 
tions and Nihilist plots on all sides. The unhappy Emperor was 
frequently heard to exclaim that he envied the Russian muzhik, 
who could live in peace with his wife and children. Alexander 
was a man with a genuine detestation of war. He could 
never forget the horrors he had witnessed during the campaign 
in Bulgaria, in which he accompanied his father. He did all 
he could to make his children detest war. He used to dwell 
upon the frightful sufferings which he had witnessed, and used 
to say, " May God keep you from ever seeing war, or from ever 
drawing a sword." Perhaps it is in consequence of these teach- 
ings that his son Nicholas II. inaugurated the Council of Peace 



ALEXANDER III. AND NICHOLAS II. 463 

at the Hague. He died at Livadia in the Crimea, whither he 
had gone for the benefit of his health, on October 22, 1894, 
and was succeeded by his son Nicholas (born in 1868), who 
married on the 26th of November the same year the Princess 
Alice, who became in the Greek Church Alexandra Feodorovna. 
During the period in which the present Emperor has 
reigned, he has seemed anxious to carry on the policy of 
his father in regard to France. Count Shuvalov was appointed 
governor of Warsaw, and some of the severer laws in force 
there have been relaxed. In fact the Emperor seems to 
promise to govern Poland in a milder fashion than had 
been done since the insurrection of 1863. Shuvalov was 
succeeded in 1897 by Prince Imeretinski, since deceased. 
In this year also Russia was visited by the late President 
Faure. The Siberian railway has been successfully carried 
on. Three daughters have been born to the present 
Emperor. Other events of importance have been the making 
of a railway from Vologda to Archangelsk in 1897. It is 
reputed to be the most northerly railway in the world. The 
press laws seem to have been revived in Russia lately with a 
good deal of severity, and several journals and magazines 
have been temporarily suspended. The mission of Russia at 
Washington was in 1898 changed into an embassy. On the 
28th of June the King of Roumania, with the heir-apparent 
Ferdinand, visited St Petersburg. This was no doubt a 
journey of importance, since Roumania had shown to a 
certain extent Austrian leanings. On the 16th of August the 
famous Russian General Chernaev died at his estate Tabishki, 
in the government of Mogilev. To him the Russians owed 
the conquest of Turkestan, and he was one of the heroes of 
the Serbo-Turkish war. On the 24th of August the Tsar 
somewhat startled Europe by his proposal of a Peace 
Congress, which took place at the Hague. Recently Lord 
Salisbury has declared that terms have been arranged with 
Russia on the subject of China in a satisfactory manner, but 
up to this time we have not been furnished with details. 
There are, however, many clouds in the horizon, especially in 



464 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

Finland, where the Russian governor, Bobrikov, appointed 
last August, is not popular, and the Finns are displeased with 
the conscription which is being introduced. Finland had, 
from the time of her annexation to Sweden by the treaty of 
Noteberg in 1323, a position in which she enjoyed equal 
rights. But she was gradually forced into a subordinate 
rank, although she does not seem to have had such an 
abnormal position as the Baltic provinces when belonging to 
Sweden, where in reality Swedish rule never asserted itself. 
We have seen in what resulted the efforts of Patkul to protect 
the rights of his fellow-citizens. John III. of Sweden raised 
Finland to the position of a grand duchy, on account of the 
services of the Finns against Ivan the Terrible. At the corona- 
tion of Charles IX. (1607) the youthful Gustavus Adolphus, 
heir to the crown, carried the standard of Finland as Grand 
Duke of Finland. In spite, however, of the services which 
the Finns had rendered in the wars with the Russians, they 
were badly treated. The country was governed as a de- 
pendency, and became the prey of Swedish extortioners. 
Moreover it suffered again severely from the incursions of 
the Russians in the time of Boris ,Godunov, which were 
only put a stop to by the peace of Teusina (1585). Then, 
however, broke out the civil war between the partisans of 
Sigismund III., at that time King of Poland also, and 
Duke Charles. Finland was very serviceable to Sweden in 
the Thirty Years' War. It had suffered, however, greatly 
by the incessant fighting, and many districts were altogether 
depopulated. Further miseries were to be added during the 
foolish government of Christina. In her reign we are told 
that " two- thirds of the country and one-third of the revenue 
had been given away to noblemen living in Sweden, who 
were for the most part foreigners." Finland had become 
the great area of the Swedish aristocracy for plunder. 
Matters became even worse in the reign of Charles X. in 
consequence of his wars with Poland. The Finnish troops 
were taken from the country, which was thus left unpro- 
tected, and was invaded by the Russians, who took the 



ALEXANDER III. AND NICHOLAS II. 465 

part of John Casimir, the King of Poland, who claimed 
the crown. The war, however, was put an end to by the 
Peace of Oliwa in 1660. No sooner were the Swedes released 
from their difficulties than they began to encroach upon 
the privileges of their Finnish brethren, and to treat them 
as the weaker partner. Finland was again exploited by 
greedy officials, and the trade of the country was paralysed 
owing to the monopolies granted to the Swedish markets. 
Perhaps in some respects the English acted in the same 
way to their Irish fellow-subjects, but indeed toleration 
and generosity in these matters are but things of yester- 
day. Under the absolute rule of Charles XI. Sweden 
enjoyed twenty years' peace. Finland, to a certain extent, 
profited by this. The king, however, never visited the 
country, and a law was passed in 1689, by which the 
Finns were excluded from the rank of officers in the army. 
It seems to be acknowledged that about this time efforts were 
made to suppress the Finnish language ; we shall see that it 
never held up its head till the country had been annexed 
to Russia. The turbulent reign of Charles XII. nearly led 
to the complete exhaustion of Finland. After the battle 
of Narva in 1700, in which many Finns fought, the country 
was again emptied of troops. Thus Finland became for 
the third time the prey of the Russians, who ravaged it 
during the seven years between 17 14 and 1721, as has 
already been described in our narrative. The Swedes did 
nothing for the Finns, and there was even a scheme to 
make Prince of Finland, Charles Frederick of Holstein, the 
nephew of Charles XII., who had married the daughter of 
Peter the Great. The results of this marriage have already 
been described. After the peace of Nystadt in 1721, by 
which the greater part of Finland was given back to Sweden, 
the country fared no better. Only one of its harbours, 
Abo, obtained the right of trading with foreign countries. 
Even the number of Finnish representatives at the Swedish 
diet was diminished; Stockholm alone had as many repre- 
sentatives as all the Finnish towns put together. 
2 G 



466 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

In the year 1741 the Swedish faction called the "Caps," 
carried on negotiations with the view of making Finland 
autonomous under Russian protection. The " Hats" showed 
great contempt for the Finns, and gave as one of their reasons 
for declaring war against Russia in 1741, that, even if they 
failed, the only result would be the devastation and loss of 
Finland. The whole of Finland was now occupied and 
administered by the Russians for two years (1742-43). 

In the reign of Elizabeth hopes were aroused that Fin- 
land would be made autonomous, but the Empress looked 
forward to its incorporation with the Russian Empire. In 
the treaty of Abo (1742), Sweden offered to cede Finland 
to the Empress Elizabeth if she would consent to the choice 
of an heir to the throne who was agreeable to the " Hats." 

During the struggles between the Ci Hats" and "Caps" 
which followed, Finland received very unjust treatment. 
The seaports in the country which had the right of trading 
abroad were limited to three ; native Finnish officials were 
replaced by Swedes, and it was even proposed to substitute 
Swedish forces for the Finnish militia. 

On the accession of Gustavus III., Finland met with better 
treatment. The king resolved to support the Finnish nobility. 
Things were going on well when the king quarrelled with 
Sprengporten, and the side of the latter was upheld by those who 
wished to make Finland autonomous, and the queen-mother, 
who wished to see her favourite son, Duke Charles, made an 
independent grand duke of Finland. To carry out these plans 
Sprengporten entered the service of Russia, against which 
power Gustavus had declared war. The details of this struggle 
have been made familiar to the reader in previous chapters. 
The fate of Finland was ultimately sealed by the foolish 
attempt of Gustavus IV. to disobey Napoleon's Berlin decree. 

The circumstances of the conquest of Finland have already 
been narrated. It has been thought advisable to show the 
exact relations in which Finland stood to Sweden in old 
times, and to thereby make clear how it was possible to separ- 
ate it from Sweden with such apparent ease. The nationality 
of the Finns had in fact always been more or less depressed. 



RUSSIA ijv^l SJ^ 




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naliy ./AnsiiutArr 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE SPREAD OF THE RUSSIAN DOMINION 
IN ASIA 

"THE development of the great empire which the Russians 
-*- have founded in Asia is of so much importance in the 
history of the world and the progress of civilization that we 
propose to devote to it a special chapter. The first Russian 
acquisition upon this continent was a portion of Siberia 
(Sibir), which was acquired in 1582 by the robber chief 
Yermak. For his offences he had been condemned to death, 
but was pardoned for his services in acquiring this territory 
for Russia. But the country had been previously visited by 
traders. 

In 1587 Tobolsk was founded. This was built near the native 
town of Sibir, which no longer exists. In 1604 Tomsk was 
founded. The deportation of criminals to Siberia seems to 
have begun at the close of the sixteenth century. Thither, 
too, was deported the great bell of the city of Uglitch as a 
punishment, because the assassination of the young Tsar 
Dimitri had taken place there. In 1647 the Cossack Dezhnev 
first sailed across Behring Straits. 

The next portion of the continent over which the Russians 
acquired influence was what is now collectively called Georgia. 
Some of the princes of that country had avowed themselves 
Russian tributaries quite early. Thus Alexander II., in 1587, 
had acknowledged the suzerainty of Feodor Ivanovich. In 
1538, Levan, ruler of Mingrelia, took the oath of allegiance 
to the Emperor Alexis, and in 1653 Imeretia became a 
Russian province. 

To return to Siberia, in 1658 Nerchinsk was founded, 

467 



468 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

situated on the river Nercha. From this place, Khabarov 
set forth to annex the district of the Amour, but the territory 
was given back to China in 1689. It was not to be regained 
by Russia till 1858. In 1669 Irkutsk was founded. It lies 
on the right bank of the river Angara, opposite to the mouth 
of the river Irkut. In 1697 the Russians annexed the penin- 
sula of Kamchatka with its mixed population of barbaric 
tribes. In 1723 the western shore of the Caspian Sea was 
acquired from Persia. In 1783, Heraklius, the king of 
Georgia, accepted the Russian suzerainty. We have already 
spoken of the misfortunes of this king, who lived to a great 
age, and suffered much at the hands of his Mohammedan 
neighbours. The provinces over which he ruled were Kartha- 
linia and Kakhetia. In 1801, on the death of the king, 
Georgia was incorporated with Russia. This was a very 
valuable acquisition for the latter power. The city of Tiflis 
has risen from its ashes under Russian rule, and in connection 
with the Russian railway system bids fair to become one of 
the most important cities in Asia. Mingrelia followed the 
fate of Georgia (Gruzia) in 1803. 

In 1807 Erivan was taken, and by the treaty of 1828 
Erivan and Nakhichevan were definitely incorporated with 
Russia. In 1856 the district of Eastern Siberia was organised. 
In 1858, by the treaty of Aigun, the valuable district of the 
Amur was annexed to Russia. At the same time, in order 
to guarantee her position towards China and Japan, Russia 
signed the treaty of Tian-Tsin with the former and Yeddo 
with the latter power (August 19). The following year saw 
the complete subjugation of the Caucasus by Prince Baria- 
tinski. Gunib, the headquarters of Shamyl, was captured 
and he himself taken prisoner. There were, however, occa- 
sional outbreaks lasting till the year 1S64. In 1S65 Tashkent 
was taken by General Chernaev ; the whole district was 
annexed in 1867. It was in this year that the Russians sold 
to the United States the territory of Alaska in North America, 
which belonged to them. In 1868 the historic cities of 
Samarkand and Bokhara came into the possession of the 



THE RUSSIAN DOMINION IN ASIA 469 

Russians ; Khiva followed next in 1873. I n J ^4° an expedi- 
tion had been undertaken against this city by General 
Perovski, but it was unsuccessful. In 1876 the Kuril Islands 
were given to Japan in exchange for the peninsula of Sakhalin. 
This has since been used by Russia as a convict settlement. 
In 1 88 1 Skobelev took Geok Tepe, and brought to an end 
the expedition to Akhal Tekin. This eminent soldier died 
in 1882. He was born at Riazan in 1843. Geok Tepe was 
one of the chief towns of the Turkomans. Askhabad sur- 
rendered without striking a blow on January 30th. 

The cession of Merv was merely a matter of time. In 
1884 four Khans of the country came and volunteered to 
put themselves under Russian protection. The English saw 
this progress of the Russian arms with jealousy and dis- 
pleasure, but took no hostile steps against Russia. General 
Annenkov now busied himself with the carrying out of the 
great Transcaspian railway. This was accomplished in the 
midst of astonishing difficulties. At one time the vast 
moving sands of the desert seemed on the point of burying 
the workmen ; at another they were threatened by the 
inundations of the Amour-Daria (the Oxus). The line at 
first extended as far as Samarkand, the extreme limit of the 
conquests of Alexander the Great towards the north, and 
the old capital of Ghengis Khan and Tamerlane. Here was 
preserved the celebrated Cufic Koran which now forms one 
of the treasures of the Public Library of St Petersburg. The 
opening of this line took place on May 17th, 1888. 

In 1885 General Komarov defeated the Afghans at 
Kushk (March 30th). The English, viewing with jealousy 
the approach of the Russians, are accused by French and 
Russian authors of having stimulated the Afghans to en- 
counter the Russians. In 1886 the inhabitants of Pendjeh 
submitted to the Russians as the people of Merv had done. 
But matters were now partially arranged with the English 
Government. The treaty of July 22nd, 1887, fixed the 
limits of Afghanistan, and left in the hands of Russia the 
pass of Zulfikar and the course of the Mourghab as far as 



47o A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

Merushak. The line of the frontier was drawn close to the 
north of Herat. In the year 1886 an important change was 
introduced in one of the Russian acquisitions. Batoum was 
declared to be no longer a free port. This valuable port 
was ceded to the Russians by the Treaty of Berlin, as we 
have already seen ; one of the characteristics of which was 
that while affecting to weaken Russia, it really handed over 
to her all that she desired. Batoum is now the great port 
for her Circassian possessions, being so much superior to Poti.. 
It is fast becoming a handsome city, on the ruins of a little 
dirty Turkish town. In 1887 a treaty was signed with Great 
Britain regulating the Afghan frontier. In 1891 some troops, 
under the command of Colonel Vanov, crossed the Pamirs, 
and advanced even beyond the Hindu-Kush. In 1892 they 
returned and established themselves at Sarkad (on one of the 
upper branches of the Amour-Daria). They thus seized all 
the district of the Pamirs between the Transalai and the 
Hindu-Kush, recognising the rights of the Afghans to the 
course of the Amour-Daria only below Sarkad. On the other 
hand, they paid no attention to any Chinese rights over the 
Eastern valleys and plateaux, and fixed the chain of the 
Kizil Yart as their limit. These are, indeed, geographical 
frontiers clearly marked out. The Kizil Yart separates them 
from Kashgar, which is governed by the Chinese, and the 
Hindu-Kush and Karakorum (the old Mongolian capital) are 
the limits to Northern India. The English accordingly have 
assumed the sovereignty of the tribes in the valleys, and on 
the 27th of February 1895 the position of Russia and England 
was accurately marked out. 

In 1 89 1 the first turf was cut by the heir to the throne, 
now the Emperor Nicholas II., of the new Siberian railway, 
destined to unite Vladivostok and the extreme possessions 
of Russia to the capital. It is now practically finished 
between Cheliabinsk and Vladivostok, with a branch line 
to Khabarovsk and another to Port Arthur. On the 
side of the Pacific the Russians were everywhere active* 
China was compelled to recognise the independence of 



THE RUSSIAN DOMINION IN ASIA 471 

Corea, and Russia concluded a treaty of commerce with the 
latter power. In 1895, at the conclusion of the war between 
China and Japan, the latter country was prevented from 
taking possession of Corea. Russia was now busily pushing 
her interests in the extreme East. In 1897 a consulate 
was established in Siam, and on the 9th of December 
the Transcaspian railway was extended as far as Kokand. 
On the 27th of March, of the year 1898, an agreement was 
signed between Russia and China, whereby the latter cedes 
to the former for twenty-five years, which, by mutual consent, 
may be prolonged, Port Arthur and Talian Van, with the 
surrounding territory, and leave was granted to carry thither 
a branch of the Siberian* railway. This port is of great 
importance to Russia. Much opposition was raised in 
England; and the English succeeded in procuring from the 
Chinese the port of Wei-hai-Wei, about the value of which 
very opposite opinions have been held. On the 15th of 
April the village of Nikolskoe, in the South Ussurian District, 
was changed into the town of Nikolsk-Ussuriski. On the 
28th of May the Emir of Bokhara, Mir-Seid-Bahadur-Khan, 
arrived in St Petersburg. On the 29th of the same month 
occurred the extraordinary rising in the Margelan district of 
the province of Fergan of a Mohammedan band of mutineers 
under a Mullah named Ishan Mohammed Ali Khalif, who 
preached a holy war against the infidels. It is currently 
reported that papers were found upon the conspirators which 
showed that they had been tampered with by emissaries from 
Constantinople. The mutineers fell upon the Russian camp 
at night in a time of profound peace, when many of the 
officers were absent on leave; twenty-two were killed and 
sixteen wounded in the camp, and the two regiments would 
have been annihilated had it not been for the heroism of a 
Georgian officer in the Russian service who was surprised 
in bed, but contrived to rush in his shirt from his tent with 
a revolver in each hand and succeeded in giving the alarm 
to his comrades. He managed to shoot down many of his 
opponents, but himself received some grievous wounds. The 



472 A HISTORY OF RUSSIA 

Russians executed the Mullah and a few of the ringleaders. 
At first he had escaped from their pursuit, but was afterwards 
captured. The speech which he made before he was hanged 
was eminently characteristic of the Oriental, and is not with- 
out its signification for our own countrymen when dealing 
with Mohammedans. He acknowledged that the Russians 
had made no attempt to tamper with his religion, or to 
molest his countrymen in their mode of life. He said he 
was convinced that Oriental habits were so incompatible with 
those of the west that he felt himself justified in organising 
the insurrection. On the 30th of June the extreme eastern 
Cape of Siberia was named Dezhnev in honour of the ad- 
venturous Cossack who has already been mentioned in this 
chapter. 

Thus by the genius and enterprise of General Annenkov 
the capitals of Peter the Great and Tamerlane have been 
united. The only interruptions are the crossing of the 
Caspian, which lasts from fifteen to eighteen hours, and the 
journey from Vladikavkaz to Tiflis, which is in the centre 
of the line from Poti to Bakou. The idea has been enter- 
tained of a railway from Vladikavkaz to Gori, but it would 
require some very expensive tunnelling to traverse the 
Caucasus. It now takes only ten days to get from St 
Petersburg to Samarkand. There is a regular service of 
steamers between Odessa, Sevastopol and Batoum. 



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INDEX 



Abdullah, 382 

Aberdeen, Lord, 401, 402, 403 

Abbas Mirza, 374, 375 

Abo, 65. 187 

Adlerkreuz, 283 

Adrian, 79, 97 

Adrianople, 61, 379 

Afghans, 85 

Afrosinia 81, 83 

Aga Mohammed, 277 

Aigun, 468 

Aivasovski, 456 

Aix-la-Chapelle, 172 

Akhalkalaki, 380 

Akhalsik, 372, 373 

Akhmet III., 56, 137 

Akkerman, 361 

Akulcho, 393 

Aland Islands, 66 

Alberoni, 69 

Aleksandrenko, 101, 183 

Alexander I., 272-357 

Alexander II., 424-456 

Alexander III., 284-451, 457-463 

Alexander K. of Poland, 8 

Alexander of Battenberg, 459, 460, 

461 
Alexandra Pavlovna, 241 
Alexis Mikhailovich, 1-4, 27, 77, 

79, 90, 132 
Alexis Petrovich, 15, 57, 64, 80, 

108 
Algarotti, 102 
Alma, 411 
Altrandstadt, 40 
Altschau, 130 
Amsterdam, 73 
Andizhan, 459 
Andruszowo, 6 
Ankerstrom, 83, 236 
Anne Ivanovna, 10, II, 54, 77, 98, 

109, 113, 121-153, 159 



Anne Leopoldovna, 108, 165 
Anne d. of Peter the Great, 88, 89, 

108, 113, 121 
Annenkov, 451 
Anspach, 278 
Apraksin, 50, 58, 66, 70, 86, 104, 

105, 113, 118, 124 
Apraksin, 177 
Arad, 399 

Arakcheev, 258, 259, 345, 346, 347 
Archangel, 17, 34 
Ardahan, 447 
Arkhipich, Timothy, 11 
Armenians, 88 
Armfeldt, 65 
Askabad, 450 
Astrabad, 87 
Astrakhan, 38, 87, 145 
Augustus II., 27, 41, 45, 52, 64, 

68, 90 
Augustus III., 127, 141, 216 
Austerlitz, 279 
Avril, 15 
Azov, 17, 18, 27, 29, 35, 41, 46,48, 

59, 60, 61, 146 



B 

Bagration, 289 
Baireuth, 73 
Bakchisarai, 147 
Baku, 72, 87 
Bakunin, 440 
Balaklava, 413 
Baltic, the, 27 
Barante de, 355 
Barclay de Tolly, 287, 294 
Barguzin, 361 
Bariatinski, 124 
Barkley, 437, 43^, 439 
Batory, 5, 89, 209, 292 
Batiushkov, 354 
Batoum, 447, 470 

475 



476 



INDEX 



Batthyany, 399 

Baturin, 44, 45, 112, 113 

Beaconsfield, Lord, 447 

Beauharnais, Eugene, 331 

Beauplan, 5 

Behring, 113, 116 

Bekovich, 85, 86 

Belgrade, 148, 151 

Benbow, 21 

Bender, 30, 52, 56 

Benningsen, 272, 273, 322 

Berenger, 203 

Berezina, 41, 331 

Berezov, 72, 117 

Berezowski, 450 

Berg, 436 

Berlin, 64, 73 

Bernadotte (Charles John), 285 

Berthier, 330 

Bessarabia, 50, 58 

Bestuzhev, 168, 180 

Bestuzhev, 360 

Betski, 254 

Bibikov, 188, 311 

Bielaiev, 319 

Billings, 226 

Biren, 55, 121, 125, 127-155 

Bismarck, 61, 459 

Bogdanovich, 243 

Boileau, 101 

Bokhara, 85, 440 

Bomarsund, 407 

Bomelius, 99 

Borga, 283 

Borisov, 329 

Borki, 456 

Borodino, 295, 296, 297, 321 

Bosnia, 459 

Botta, Marquis, 156, 169 

Braila, 58, 368 

Brancovan. 56, 58, 63 

Branicka, Countess, 234 

Bremen, 67, 70 

Brest, 140 

Briansk, 42, 145 

Bridge, Sir Cyprian, 106 

Brown, Edward, 6 

Brown, Lyde, 74 

Bruce, 68, 71 

Bruce, Countess, 170 

Bruce, P. H., 184 

Briihl, Count de, 177 

Brunswick, 61 



Brunswick, Duke of (Anthony 
Ulrich), 109, 128,153, 161, 166 

Buckinghamshire, Hobart, Earl of, 
202 

Bug, 50 

Bukharest, 287 

Bulgaria, 459 

Bulgarians, 439 

Burnet, Bp., 22 

Burtsov, 94 

Butler, 406 

Buturlin, 28 



Caligula, 256 

Campbell, 390 

Capo d'Istria, 367 

Cardigan, Lord, 413 

Carlyle, 65, 73, 93 

Carmarthen, Marquis of, 21, 23 

Carr, 211 

Casimir, John, 6, 140, 465 

Casimir (posad), 40 

Caspian, the, 72 

Castlereagh, 344 

Cathcart, Sir G., 416 

Catherine, Ivanovna, 10, 11, 108, 

121 
Catherine I., 57, 66, 67, 90, 92, 

108, 112, 113 
Catherine II., 56, 58, 65, 75, 97, 

100, 117, 119-169, 241 
Chappe d'Anteroche, 252 
Charles II., 4 
Charles IV., Emperor, 101 
Charles VI., Emperor, 81, 147 
Charles XL, 27, 465 
Charles XII., 27, 34, 37-64, 68, 69, 

295, 465 
Charles Albert of Bavaria, 157 
Charles, Archduke, 278 
Charles of Hohenzollern, 460 
Charlotte of Wolfenbuttel, 57, 64, 

81 
Chebycher, 456 
Chechela, 45 
Chekhov, 422 
Cheliabiusk, 462 
Cherkaski, 124, 128 
Chernaiev, 439 
Chernaya, 425 



INDEX 



477 



Chernichev, 176 

Chernigov, 12 

Chesme, 224, 225 

Chetardie, de la, 159, 163, 165 

Chichagov, 235, 288, 289, 321, 333 

Chlopicki, 387 

Christian, August Prince, 170 

Christina, 404 

Chugnev, 348 

Churluli, 56 

Circassians, 437 

Citate, 405 

Clarke, Ed., 258 

Codrington, 364, 365 

Collins, 4 

Constantine (Pavlovich), 275, 358, 

387, 389 
Constantinople, 59 
Cook, 93, 189 
Copenhagen, 81 
Corberon de, 220 
Cossacks, 103, 114 
Courland, 31, 37, 241 
Coxe, 217 
Crabbe, 452 
Cracow, 31 
Cramer, 118 
Craufurd. Earl of, 150 
Crawford, D., 17 
Cray, 162 
Crimea, 43, 147 
Cronstadt, 69 
Croy, Due de, 28, 29 
Cruys, 105 
Czaikowski, 379 
Czartoryski, Adam, 273, 357, 390 



Daghestan, 87 

Dago, 72 

Dalziel, 4 

Damiens, 93 

Danube, 56, 57 

Danzig, 108, 141, 257 

Dashkov, Princess, 142, 194, 195, 

196, 204 
Davoust, 279 
Deane, John, 105 
Delille, 135 
Dembinski, 396 
Demetrius, the False, 12, 43 



Demidov, N., 133, 134 
Denmark, 27, 53, 64 
Deptford, 21, 22, 116 
Derbent, 87 
Derzhavin, 243, 354 
Desna, 44 
Dezhnev, 466, 472 
Dickens, Guy, 173 
Diderot, 200, 204, 250, 251 
Diebitsch, 377, 378 
Dmitriev-Mamonov, 12 
Dnieper, 43 
Dniester, 57 
Dobroe, 41, 43 
Dobrudzha, 406, 442 
Dokhturov, 279, 318 
Dolgorukaza, Catherine, 118 
Dolgoruki, Feodor, 117 
Dolgoruki, Ivan, 120, 121, 151 
Dolgoruki, James, 92, 93 
Dolgoruki, Michael, 9, 28 
Dolgorukov, Gregory, 90 
Domejko, 434, 435 
Don, 43, 47 
Doroshenko, 6 
Dorpat, 32, 35, 36, 440 
Dostoievski, 421 fr,"£_ 
Douglas, 179 
Dresden, 80, 289 
Drissa, 289 
Druzhinin, 450 
Duchatelet, 176 
Duderhof, 55 
Dugdale, 226 
Dukhovstchina, 324 
Dulcigno, 448 
Dvina, 42 



Eble, 330 

Egel, 72 

Edgeworth, d', Abbe, 261 

Ehrenberg, 81 

Ehrenskiold, 66 

Ehrestfer, 32 

Elbing, 180 

Elisavetgrad, 230 

Elizabeth (Petrovna), 74, 77, 93, 

108, in, 118, 120, 161 
Elmo, St, 81 
Elphinstone, 225 



478 



INDEX 



Engelhardt, 325 

Erivan, 468 

Eski Zagra, 444 

Esthonia, 27, 54, 72 

Esthonians, 458 

Eugene of Savoy, Prince, 144 

Evelyn, John, 21 

Eylau, 280 



Falconet, 103, 251 
Feodor, Alexievich, 4, 7, 13 
Fere-Champenoise, 343 
Ferdinand of Saxe - Coburg, 460, 

461 
Fergan, 471. 
Fermor, William, 179 
Fessing, John, 20 
Figner, 313 
Kili, 299 
Finch, 151, 157, 160, 161, 162, 

166, 187 
Finland, 27, 42, 54, 65 
Finns, 33 
Fleming, 64 
Fletcher, Giles, 78 
Florence, 392 
France, 12, 24, 73 
Tranche, Comte, 218 
Francis II., 257 
Frederick William D. of Courland, 

54 
Frederick of Hesse (afterwards K. 

of Sweden), 70 
Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, 88 
Frederick IV., 53, 65 
Frederick I. (of Prussia), 54 
Frederick II., 157, 162, 194, 218 
Frederick William, 64, 65, 73 
Frederick William II., 237 
Frederikshald, 69 
Frederikshamm, 283 
Friedland, 281 



Galatovski, 79 
Galatz, 50 
Galicia, 57, 193 
Gangud, 66 
Gedymin, 6 



Gemauertshof, 44 

Geok Tepe, 450, 469 

George I., 71, 113 

George, Prince of Denmark, 156 

George (Tsrni), 285 

Georgia, 87, 276, 277 

Gerstenzweig, 431 

Gervais, 462 

Geshov, 44 

Ghika, 150 

Gifford, 407 

Glebov, 83 

Gliick, 34, no 

Godunov, Boris, 7, 79 

Gogol, 79, 421 

Golitsin, Basil, 12, 13, 16 

Golitsin, Dmitri, 101, 124 

Golitsin, Michael, 35, 49, 66, 71, 

104, 113 
Golitsius (the), 7 
Golovin, 19, 28, 35 
Golovchino, 4, 43 
Golovkin, 104, 113, 1 18, 123 
Gonta, 208 
Gorchakov, 416 
Gordon, Alexander, 18 
Gordon, Patrick, 3, 12, 13, 14, 25, 

75 
Gordon, Thomas, 69 
Gorgei, 398 
Gori, 472 

Gorni Dubniak, 445 
Gortz, 68, 69, 70 
Grabbe, General, 393 
Granovski, 422 
Gregory XIII., 77 
Gregory the Patriarch, 352 
Greig, 325, 367 
Grengam, 71 
Grey, Earl, 390 
Griboiedov, 360, 374 
Grimm, 170, 200 
Grochow, 388 

Grodno, 38, 39, 40, 238, 240 
Gross-Jaegersdorf, 178 
Grudziuska, Julia, 358 
Gudiach, 44 
Gunib, 468 
Gunning, 208 
Gustavus Adolphus, 51, 61, 102, 

464 
Gustavus III., 68, 83, 219, 234, 

235> 466 



INDEX 



479 



Gustavus IV., 241, 277, 466 
Gyllenborg, Count, 158 



H 



Haddington, 274 

Hager, Lorenz, 40 

Hague, the, 20, 64, 463 

Hakhi Pasha, 378 

Halifax, Lord (Sir C. Wood), 439 

Hamley, 409-415 

Hampton Court, 23 

Hangd Head, 108 

Hardouineau, 271 

Harrington, Lord, 162 

Harris (Lord Malmesbury), 220 

Hatton, Sir Christopher, 208 

Haugwitz, 277 

Hawkesbury, 274 

Haynau, 396, 399 

Hedwig, Elizabeth, 155 

Hedwig, Sophia, 88 

Helen (of Poland), 8, 75 

Helmet, 33 

Helsingfors, 65 

Henry VII., 205 

Henry of Prussia, Prince, 215 

Hentzi, 396 

Hermani, 433 

Herzegovina, 459 

Herzen, 440 

Hesse Darmstadt, Prince of, 139 

Hesse Darmstadt, Princess of, 256 

Hesse Homburg, Prince of, 146 

Heyden, Count, 364 

Hochkirchen, 188 

Hogland, 106 

Holland, 24 

Holstein, 27, 64, 88 

Holstein, Duke of, 114, 115 

Horn, 95 

Horodlo, 431 

Hughes, 443 

Hummelsdorf, 33 

Hungary, 395, 400 

Hussein, 85 

Hyndford, Lord, 171, 186 



Ibrahim Pasha, 363, 382-385 
Ignatiev, 83 



Imeretia, Alexander, Prince, 28 

Imeretinski, Prince, 463 

Ingria (Ingermanland), 27, 72 

Inkermann, 415 

Innocent XL, 24 

Ipsilante, 350 

Irkutsk, 469 

Isakcha, 401 

Ishan Mohammed, 471 

Ispahan, 86 

Ivan Alexievich, 4, 7, 9, 10, 108 

Ivan III., 75 

Ivan IV., the Terrible, 4, 12, 17, 

27, 33, 78, 89, 99, 136 
Ivan VI. , 108, 139-205 
Ivanov, 456 
Izmaelov, 197 
Izmaelovo, 10, 11, 121 



Jadwiga, 6 

Jagiello, 6, 391 

Jansen, 18, 19 

Jassy, 57 

Jellachich, 376 

Jena, 280 

John III. of Sweden, 464 

Johnson, Dr, 46, 73 

Jones, Paul, 251 

Joseph II., 210 

Joubert, 263 

Juel Just, 53 

Jutland, 64 



Kagul, 222, 223 

Kaiserling, 26 

Kakhovski, 360 

Kalish, 39, 342 

Kallay, 449 

Kalofer. 444 

Kamchatka, 113, 134, 135, 408, 

409 
Kantemir, Antiokh, 56, 60, 63, 86, 

100 
Kantchansk, 269 
Karakasov, 439 
Karamzin, 247, 355 
Karkus, 33 



480 



INDEX 



Karlovo, 444 

Kars, 371, 426 

Katkov, 456, 457, 461 

Kaunitz, 174 

Kazan, 105, 116 

Keith, 179, 191, 197 

Kellin, 46, 47 

Kertch, 424 

Kettlers, the. 119 

Khabarovsk, 470 

Khemnitser, 243 

Kheraskov, 243 

Khiva, 85, 441 

Khotin, 149 

Khrustchov, 128 

Kiev, 6, 12, 38, 46, 72, 77, 130, 

459 
Kikin, 83 
Kilinski, 238 
Kinglake, 413, 414 
Kireyev, 441 
Kishenev, 442 
Kizi-Kermen, 18 
Klin, 315 
Klingspor, 283 
Klissovo, 88 

Kneller, Sir Godfrey, 23 
Knight, C, 247. 
Kochubei, 41 
Kokand, 471 
Koltsov, 454 
Komarov, 469 
Koniah, 382 
Konigsberg, 19, 81, 180 
Konigseck, 45 
Koporie, 35, 66 
Korb, 24 

Kornilov, 412, 425 
Kosciuszko, 238, 239 
Kossakowski, 238 
Kossuth, 394 
Kotishikhin, 75 
Kotzebue, 275 
Kovalevskaya, Sonia, 456 
Kovno, 289, 357 
Krasnoe, 326, 327 
Krasovski, 377 
Kraushar, A., 271 
Kremlin, 9 
Krilov, 243, 312, 420 
Krizhanich, 75 
Kronshlot, 36 
Ktichelbecker, 361 



Kulevcha, 376, 377 
Kunersdorf, 181 
Kura, 138 
Kurakin, 240, 256 
Kurbski, Prince, 33 
Kushk, 469 
Kusmich, Feodor, 357 
Kustendji (Constanza), 369 
Kustrin, 180 
Kutaisov, 269. 298 
Kutayah, 399 

Kutuzov, 272, 278, 286, 312 
Kutchuk-Kainardji, 227, 237 



Lachta, 90 

Lacy, 131, 141, 146, 147, 159 

Ladoga, Lake, 34, 90 

Ladoga, old, 83 

Lambert, Gen., 431 

Lambert, Mme., 94 

Langiewicz, Marian, 433 

Larissa, 449 

Lazarev, 366, 383, 384 

Lazhechnikov, 421 

Lee, Nath., 22 

Lefort, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 194 

Lefort ^Saxon Envoy), 114 

Lehwald, Marshal, 178 

Leibnitz, 84, 100 

Leipzig, 342 

Lelewel. 389 

Lemberg, Count, 395 

Leon tie v, 123 

Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, 367 

Lermontov, 12, 188, 420 

Lesghians, 87 

Leslie, 4 

Lestocq, 127, 161, 165, 185 

Leszczynski, Stanislaus, 39, 41, 45, 

52, 59, 61, 62. 69, 91, 112, 140 
Leszczynski, Maria, 140 
Letts, 33 
Levan, 467 
Levashev, 137, 138 
Levitski, 442 
Liesnoie, 44 
Lieven, Prince, 390 
Lilie, 106 
Lilienstedt, 71 
Lithuania, 39, 41, 89, 391 
Livadia, 462 



INDEX 



481 



Livonia, 17, 27, 31, 33, 34, 42, 43, 55 

Lobachevski, 456 

Lodz, 458 

Lomonosov, 243 

London, Treaty of, 381 

Lonnrot, 284 

Lope de Vega, 243 

Lopukhin, Evdokia, 15, 80, 108, 

"5. 

Lorraine, 144 

Louis XIV. , 420 

Louis XV., 73, 74, in, 148 

Louis XVIII. , 261 

Lovat, Lord, 45 

Lowenhaupt, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44 

Llibecker, 42, 65 

Lucan, Lord, 413 

Ludolf, Henry, 22, ioo 

Ludolf, Job, 22 

Luthol, 118 

Lynar, Count, 156, 158 



M 



Macartney, Sir George, 8, 203 

Macdonald, 262 

Macedonia, 449 

Macieiowice, 239 

Mack, 277 

Mackenzie, 412 

Mackiewicz, 436 

Magnan, 120, 151 

Magnitski, 348 

Mahmoud, 363-385 

Makarov, 129 

Malodeczno, 336 

Maloyaroslavetz, 43, 318, 319 

Malta, 24, 261, 271 

Malzahn, 164 

Mannstein, 121, 124, 143 

Mansurov, 212 

Marburg, 65 

Mardefeldt, 39 

Maria Aleksievna, 82, 83 

Maria, Feodorovna, 273 

Maria, Wife of Alexander III., 257 

Maria Theresa, 157 

Marienburg, 33, 34, 116 

Marienwerder, 54, 1 19 

Massena, 263 

Matchin, 442 

2 H 



Matveov Artemon, 1, 2-9 

Maurice (of Saxony), 119 

Mayerberg, 9, 75 

Mazanderan, 87 

Mazeppa, 41, 42, 50, 1 14 

Mechnikov, 455 

Mecklenburg, Karl Leopold D. of, 

108 
Megret, 69, 70 
Mehemet Pasha, 56 
Mehemet Ali, 381-386 
Melikov, Loris, 445 
Mendeleef, 454, 455 
Mengden, Julia, 156, 159, 167 
Menshikov, 18, 20, 29, 31, 32, 34- 

67, 92, 104, no, 112-117 
Menshikov, Alex., son, 116 
Menshikova, Mary, 1 16, 1 17 
Menzen, 33 
Merv, 457 

Michael (Romanov), 12, 54 
Michaelovskoe, 360 
Michelson, 212 
Mickiewicz, 217, 291, 353 
Midhat Pasha, 439, 442 
Miklosich, 38 
Milessino, 259 
Miloradovich, 303, 359 
Miloslavskis, I, 7 
Minin, 317 
Minitski, 130 
Mir Mahmoud, 86, 87 
Mirovich, 204-5 
Mitchell, 178-181 
Mittau, 19, 37, 119, 121, 261 
Mogila, Peter, 79 
Mohilev, 43, 44 
Moldavians, 56 
Moliere, 8, 54 
Mollendorf, 236 
Mordvinians, 97 
Mortier, 315 

Moscow, 19, 25, 33, 42, 115 
Mozhaisk, 298 
M tiller, Gottfried, 135 
Muller, Peter, 91 
Munich, 127, 131, 197 
Muota, the, 267 
Murat, 296, 305, 317, 330 
Muraviev, Apostol, 360 
Muraviev, M., 432-436 
Muthen, 267 



482 



INDEX 



N 



Nachimov, 412, 425 

Nadir Shah, 137, 145 

Nancy, 140 

Napier, Sir Charles, 406 

Napoleon, 43, 46, 103, 288-337, 

356 
Napoleon III., 400, 441 
Nappo, 66 
Narbutt, 436 
Narishkin, Cyril, 9 
Narishkin, Ivan, 9 
Narishkina, Natalia, 2 
Narishkins (the), 7 
Nartov, 21 
Narva, 28, 30, 31, 36, 37, 50, 95, 

464 
Nasmyth, 406 
Natalia, s. of Peter the Great, 8, 

67 
Natalia, d. of Peter the Great, 

108 
Natalia (Aleksievna), 81, 108, 114, 

118 
Natalia (Aleksievna), w. of Paul, 

207 
Natalia (Dolgorukaya), 72 
Nekrasov, 452 
Nepokoishitski, 442 
Nerchinsk, 467 
Neugebauer, 84 
Neva, 34 

Ney, 279, 331, 332 
Nice, 457 

Nicholas L, 21, 275-418 
Nicholas, II., 459 
Nicholas of Montenegro, 460 
Niemen, 178 
Nienshantz, 35, 107 
Nieszawa, 228 
Nikitin, 454 
Nikon, 14, 211 
Nolan, 412, 413 
Norris, 67, 71 
Noteburg, 34, 35, 464 
Novgorod, 30, 151 
Novgorod, Nizhni, II, 36, 42 
Novikov, 244, 245, 246 
Novosiltsov, 276, 353 
Nowy Troki, 292 
Nystadt, 71, 74, 89, 105, 159, 466 
Nyschlot, 66 



Oakes, 215, 216, 219 

Ochakov, 18, 147, 151, 257 

Odessa, 352, 406, 407 

Odoievski, 361 

Ogleby, 39 

Okhotsk, 134 

Oliphant, 438 

Oliwa, 464 

Oltenitsa, 403 

Omar Pasha, 403 

Oranienbaum, 196 

Oranienburg, 66 

Ordin-Nastehokin, 3 

Orenburg, 211 

Orlov, Alexis, 196, 198, 199, 257, 

352 
Orlov, the Countess, 349 
Orlov, Gregory, 195 
Orsha, 327 
Ostermann, 68, 71, 72, 90, 105, 

113, 114, 118-167 
Ostrolenka, 389 
Ostrovski, 453 
Otho of Bavaria, 367 
Oudinot, 329 
Oxford, 21, 22 
Ozarowski, 238 



Pahlen, 272, 273 

Palmerston, Lord, 390 

Panin, P., 188 

Paniutin, 397 

Paris, in, 426 

Parrot, 348 

Pasek, 52 

Paskievich, 350, 367, 371, 389, 

395, 397 
Pasvan Oglu, 285 

Patkul, John Reinhold, 27, 40, 52, 93 
Paul, 84, 202, 240, 254 
Peipus, Lake, 33, 36 
Pelim, 155 
Pendjeh, 457 
Penn, W., 22 
Pereislavski, Lake, 13 
Perekop, 16 
Perevolochna, 50 
Perovskaya, Sophia, 451 



INDEX 



483 



Perry, 7, 19, 21 

Persia, 85 

Pestel, 360 

Peter the Great, 1-108 

Peter II., 81, 108, 1 12 

Peter (Petrovich), 82 

Peter III., 89, 93, 97, 120 

Petersburg (St), 22, 36, 64, 71, 

102 
Petofi, 399 
Pfuhl, 289 
Philippopolis, 446 
Photius, 349 
Piper, 49, 50 
Platov, 298, 325, 337 
Plelo, Count de, 142 
Plevna, 443 
Plumridge, 407 
Pobiednostsev, 457 
Poland, 24, 53, 89, 237, 387-391 
Polevoi, Nicholas, 355 
Polonski, 454 
Polotski, 43 
Polotski, Simeon, 8, 79 
Poltava, 30, 46, 47, 49, 53, 84, 88 
Pomerania, 63 

Poniatowski, Michael, 238, 239 
Poniatowski, Stanislaus, 191, 217, 

238, 240 
Pool, Gerrit Claesz, 20 
Pope, 101 
Poprisk, 44 
Port Arthur, 470 
Posselt, 25 
Possevin, 89 
Potemkin, 207, 237 
Pozharevats, 150 
Pozharski, 317 
Pradt, de, 335 
Prascovia (wife of Ivan), 55 
Prascovia Ivanovna, 10, 11 
Preobrazhenskoe, 16 
Pressburg, 280 
Price, Admiral, 408 
Prokopovich, Feofan, 77, 78, 184 
Prozorovski, 12, 286 
Prussia, 53 
Pruth, 57, 86 

Pskov, 31, 32, 34, 35, 42, 59 
Pugachev, 208-213 
Purtsi, 28 
Pushkin, 41, 58, 187, 214, 232, 260, 

354, 419 



R 

Raab, 397 

Raab, Karl, 106 

Radistchev, 209, 247, 248 

Radoskovice, 40 

Radziwill, Michael, 388 

Raglan, Lord, 409, 425 

Ranenburg, 165 

Rapino, 59 

Ravaillac, 361 

Ray, 106 

Rayevski, 319 

Razumovski, 115, 186 

Razumovski, Cyril, 177, 195 

Reinsdorp, 21 1 

Rennskjold, 50 

Repnin, 90, 223 

Resht, 87 

Retusari, 107 

Rheims, 101 

Riazan, 79 

Ribeaupierre, 362 

Richelieu, Due de, 74, 352 

Rieshetilovka, 52 

Riga, 19, 34, 37, 38, 52, 53 

Rigny,_ de, 364 

Rimski, Korsakov, 263 

Riviere, de la, 253 

Rochechonart, 352 

Rogerson, Dr, 242 

Romadonovski, 26 

Rome, 24 

Romna, 44 

Rondeau, 84, 118, 127 

Ronne, 58 

Ropscha, 198 

Rostock, in 

Rostopchin, 302, 306 

Rostov, 17 

Roumanians, 445, 460 

Roumelia, 460 

Royer, 407 

Rulhiere, 194, 200, 252 

Rumiantsov, 81, 88, 188, 225 

Runich, 348 

Russell, Earl, 403, 438 

Rustchuk, 369 

Ryleiev, 135 



Saardam, 19, 116 
Sablukov, 255, 272, 273 



4 8 4 



INDEX 



Saltikov, 453 

Saltikov, Peter, 180 

Saltikova, Prascovia, 10 

Samaria, 428 

Samarkand, 440, 459 

Samoilovich, 6 

San Stefano, 447, 449 

Sapieha, Prince, 114 

Sardinians, 424, 425 

Savary, 349. 

Saxony, 64 

Scheltinga, 106 

Schleswig, 70, 88, 138 

Schlippenbach, 31, 32, 33 

Schlusselburg, 34, 83, 155 

Schonborn, 81 

Schonbrunn, 344 

Schwarzenberg, 277 

Schwerin, in 

Segesvar, 397 

Seniavin, 285 

Serbs, 56, 441 

Sevastopol, 408-426 

Seymour, Sir H., 400 

Shakhmat, 87 

Shakloviti, 14 

Shakovski, 316 

Shamyl, 392, 394, 436 

Shavirov, 58, 59, 60, 104 

Shein, Aleksei, 18, 19 

Shemahia, 86 

Sheremetiev, 18, 23, 24, 28, 29, 

31, 64, 72, 92, 104, no 
Sherwood, 351, 353 
Sheshkovski, 192 
Shevchenko, 453 
Shipka, 443 
Shirvan, 87 

Shishkov, 199, 256, 349 
Shubin, 325 
Shubinski, 98 
Shumla (Shumen), 369 
Shuvalov, 182 
Shuvalov, 463 
Siberia, 49, 471 
Sicily, 24 
Siemashko, 392 
Sienkiewicz, 5 
Sieverski, 43 
Sigismund III., 6 
Signier, 69 
Silesia, 115 
Silistria, 369, 40b 



Sinclair, Malcolm, 130 

Sinope, 404 

Sirensk, 33 

Skaania, 53 

Skarga, 6 

Skariatin, 397 

Skavronskaya, M., 35, no, in 

Skavronskaya, Sophia, 1 14 

Skavronski, Samuel, no 

Skobelev, 445, 450, 469 

Skoropadski, 46 

Skrzynecki, 388 

Smirnov, Mme. , 256, 355 

Smirnov, 97 

Smolensk, 10, 12, 42, 43, 293, 326, 

327 
Smorgony, 40, 293 
Sobieski, John, 6, 51, 140, 396 
Sokovnin, 20 
Solovetski, 407 
Soloviov, Sergius, 355 
Sophia Aleksievna, 4, 5, 7-75, 112, 

125 
Sophia of Auhalt, Zerbst, see 

Catherine II. 
Sophia, wife of Ivan III., 175 
Sosva, 117 
Sozh, 44 
Soult, 279 
Sparrow Hills, 303 
Speranski, 346 
Spithead, 23 
Staehlin, I, 21, 91, 95 
Stambulov, 460, 461 
Stavuchani, 149 
Stenbok, Magnus, 53, 65 
Stettin, 64, 67, 70, in, 170 
Stockholm, 52 
Stolbovo, 102 
Strafford, 163 
Strahlenberg, 49 
Stralsund, 61, 6^ 
Strasburg, 16 
Stratford de Redcliffe, Lord (Sir 

Stratford Canning), 400 
Strdmfeldt, 71 
Strossmayer, 459 
Stuarts, 69 
Studianka, 350 
Sulieman Pasha, 446 
Sulivan, 407, 425 
Sumarokov, 123 
Sumarokov, 184, 243 



INDEX 



485 



239, 240, 254, 



Suvorov, 117, ii 

260-269 
Sveaborg, 425 
Swart, da, 187 
Swedes, 33 
Sylvester, 75 



Tabriz, 137 

Tacitus, 195, 196 

Taganrog, 19, 47, 59, 353 

Tahmasp, 86, 87, 137 

Talietsin, 197 

Talma, 285 

Tamerlane, 472 

Tarakanov, 187 

Tarki, 87 

Tarutino, 313, 317, 321, 354 

Tashkent, 439 

Tatars, 14, 146 

Tatistchev, Basil, 184, 246 

Tavan, Island of, 18 

Tavlintses, the, 87 

Teplov, 198 

Teusina, 464 

Thianges, Chevalier de, 140 

Thierry, 355 

Thorn, 52, 180 

Thugut, 264 

Tiberius, 254 

Tiflis, 277, 468 

Tikochino, 38 

Tilsit, 281 

Timmermann, 15 

Tissowski, 395 

Tobolsk, 116, 155, 467 

Todleben, 182, 276 

Todleben, 412 

Tokay, 398 

Tolstoi, "8 1, 86, 113 

Tolstoi, Dmitri, 425, 456 

Tolstoi, Leo, 421, 425 

Tomsk, 462, 466 

Tonnigen, 88 

Torgau, 64, 81 

Tormasov, 288, 333 

Tott, de, 226 

Toulon, 462 

Trafalgar, 280 

Trankvillion, 79 

Travendale, 88 



Trediakovski, 129, 143, 183 
Treiden, B. T. von, 126 
Trnovo, 445 
Trubetski, 124 
Tsikler, 20 
Tuchkov, 298 
Tula, 133 
Tulcha, 369 

Turgueniev, 254, 421, 452 
Turkey, 89, et seq. 
Tuscany, Duke of, 24 
Tyrawly, 170 



U 



UjEJSKI, 394 

Ukraine, 42, 43, 53 

Ulrika (of Sweden), 70, 71, 88, 89 

158 
Unkiar-Skelessi, 384, 394 
Ustrialov, 46, 422 



Vandal, 163 

Varna, 369, 437 

Vasilievski Ostrov, 37 

Vasitchikov, 351 

Venelin, 380 

Venice, 24, 56 

Verestchagin, 300, 301 

Verestchagin (painter), 329, 436 

Viankovo, 318 

Viazma, 322, 323 

Viborg, 58, 72 

Vienna, 24, 51 

Vietinghof, 126 

Villagos, 398 

Villeneuve, 149 

Vilna, 94, 288, 291, 353, 434 

Vitebsk, 43, 293, 329 

Vladikavkaz, 472 

Vladimir, 6 

Vladimiresco, 350 

Vladivostok, 462 

Voiekov, 360 

Voinarovski, 41, 92, 135 

Volhynia, 41 

Volinski, A., 72, 85, 86, 101, 128, 

129 
Volskonskaya, Z., 423 



486 



INDEX 



Volkonski, Nikita, 
Vologda, 17, 463 
Voltaire, 69, 253 
Von-Visin, 244 
Voronezh, 46, 47, 
Vorontsov, 58 
Vorskla, 46 
Voznitsin, 19 
Vsesvatskoe, 123 



W 



'43 



33 



Waliszewski, 60 

Wallachians, 56 

Walpole, Horace, 204 

Warsaw, 31, 64, 238 

Weierburg, 81 

Weber, 80, 84 

Wenden, 33, 67, 70 

Werden, Karl von, 108 

Wesenberg, 33 

Westphalia, Jerome, K. of, 289 

Whitworth, Sir Charles, 242 

Wielopolski, 430 

William III., 20, 22, 23, 79 

Williams, Charles Hanbury, 173, 

179, 190 
Williams, Fen wick 
Wilmanstrand, 159 
Wilson, Sir Robert, 308, 339 
Windischgratz, 396 
Winterfeldt, 164 
Wisniowiecki, Michael, 140 
Wittgenstein, 331, 367 
Wolmar, 33 



Wrangel, 159 

Wiirtemberg, Princess of, 216, 256 



Yagushinski, 105, 123, 125, 217 

Yamburg, 35, 66 

Yanovski, 55 

Yantra, 443, 445 

Yarensk, 17 

Yaroslavl, 192 

Yarovovo, 57 

Yavorski, Stephen, 79 

Yermak, 467 

Yermolov, 331, 350, 393 

Yeropkin, 128 

Young, 243 

Yuriev, 36, 440 

Yusuf Pasha, 60 



Zabielin, 94 
Zagoskin, 421 
Zajaczek, 239 
Zamojski, Andrew, 430 
Zan, 353 

Zavadovski, 216, 219 
Zhelezniak, 208 
Zimmermann, 442 
Zhukovski, 354, 422 
Zolotarev, 456 
Zorich, 220 
Zorndorf, 180 
Zubov, 272, 273 



TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. 






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